


Enslaved

by Nekoamamori



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-12 02:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15985913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekoamamori/pseuds/Nekoamamori
Summary: Kel, the avian-felis crown princess is on the run from the dragon kingdom. Will she survive?





	1. Chapter 1

It was a bright day, brighter than the young woman limping down the forest road would have much liked. She was too far out in the open. She was far too obvious. She was still in dragon country, and she was running from the dragons. This was a dangerous combination indeed. She had barely managed to escape the castle, escape from the dragon prince who wished for her to be his bride. They wanted to take over her country by means of this forced marriage. Kel escaped, barely, but the price was quite high.

Mikelina D'Anglav was the heir of the avian-felis kingdom, in her late teens with pale creamy skin, long red hair, now disheveled and a terrible mess, and bright green eyes. She was thin, thinner than she should have been, as her time spent captive in the dragon castle had not been easy on her. She was marked with cuts and bruises. She wore a simple shift, not even a true dress. The hem was torn and the dress was tattered. She was barefooted as she ran, not even seeming to care about that, as that was not her worst injury. Her worst injury was her broken wing. As an avian, she had long red-golden feathered wings growing from her back, one of which was very obviously broken. Also telling her identity as a felis shifter were the cat-ears on the top of her head and the floor length cat-tail she had. Before this very day, she also had retractable claws, but those had been ripped from her hands on the dragon heir's orders. They were still bleeding. She was way too easiliy identified in the dragon kingdom. What made matters worse was the heavy metal collar around her neck. There was no lock on it, per se, but only a dragon could remove it, and since none would disobey the dragon king who put it on her...

She was hurrying as fast as she could in her condition through the dragon kingdom. She had to get back to her own before the dragons caught up with her. She had only been on the road for a few hours. She kept to the woods as much as possible, but the journey was much too much for her in her state. She was going to have to stop soon for water and to bandage herself up if she was going to keep going. If she was going to make it. If she was going to survive.

She was limping at this point, walking fairly slowly at the edge of the forest, keeping an eye on the skies, ready to duck into the woods at the first sign of a dragon in the skies. She spotted a house up ahead, it was a little cottage really. She wondered if it was safe there, if the inhabitant would help her, or if it was a dragon. A dragon would see the dragon king's seal on the collar around her neck and turn her in. . . She couldn't take the risk. She edged further into the woods as the road she was following moved to go past the house. She didn't want to be seen and caught if it was a dragon in there.


	2. Chapter 2

Unseen by the princess was a one of the dragon princes, a tall, well muscled man, with long blonde hair and a well trimmed beard. He was out working in the garden next to the cottage. They were still deep in the dragon kingdom, not nearly far enough away from the castle. He heard the commotion of the girl ineptly trying to sneak through the woods near his cottage. He frowned, then a look of concern crossed his face as he could smell the stale blood and open wounds on her body. Being at a higher vantage point he also noticed the dragons in hot pursuit coming over the top of the hill and following the girl closely. He knew his kind well enough to know they didn't mean to treat the girl well. He ran off into the woods to try and catch up to the injured girl. He was going to have to help her if she had any chance at all.

Kel kept on her path. She just had to keep moving. If she could keep moving, maybe they couldn't catch her. It was a fruitless hope at this point. The dragons would know she had escaped and she was losing strength quickly. She had to find somewhere to hide. That was the only way she was going to be able to elude the dragons long enough to recover enough to make it home. She was too badly hurt. She needed time to recover. Unfortunately, the dragons were gaining quickly on her.

The man had managed to get ahead of her on the path. He was swift and strong. He knew that he had to be quick because if he didn't get ahead of her and cut her off the dragons would overtake her and they would be expecting him. He saw her coming in the woods and could hear the dragons off in the distance. "Get down!" He ordered her. He knew she would listen to his command, even if she didn't want to she had no choice in the matter and he was going to let that power over her be beneficial to not only her predicament but to his own as well. He needed her to be obedient for his own plans to work. The heavy metal collar around her neck assured him that she would obey any and all of his commands. With it on, she had to obey the direct order of the dragon nobility, and he was one of the dragon princes. He knew she recognized him. They had met while she was captive in the castle, after all.

Kel snarled as she fell to the ground, her body following the prince's orders before her mind had even comprehended them. It was then that she panicked. They had found her! They had caught up to her. There was no way they weren't going to drag her back to that tiny cell in the castle. She couldn't stand another night in that tiny cell. She tried to fight against the orders, but the dragon magic was too strong and she was too weak right now, so she had to stay down, and pray she could find some way out of this.

He let out a roar and allowed scales to form on his body ripping his clothing as he swung his sword at the first approaching dragon warrior slashing through its own scale clad body. He didn't want to injure his brethren but he could not allow them to go back to his kingdom and report that he was helping the escaped bride-to-be of his inferior older brother. He used his shield to block an attack from the other dragon he had to figure out a way to knock these two dragons unconscious and find a way to blank their memories so he didn't have to kill them. "Hey, kitten, you have anyway of wiping memories?" He shouted out as he continued to fight the savage dragon kin.

She looked up at him surprised, safely hiding at the side of the road. She wasn't sure she would be able to get up, now that she had fallen. She stared at Seth, the dragon prince, in disbelief for a moment until her mind started working again and she could answer him. "If you take this stupid collar off!" She reminded him, since that was keeping her from her magic, which is why it had taken her so long to escape in the first place. The collar was a tricky piece of magic, it had no real lock, but only a dragon could take it off. None of them would dare disobey the dragon king and take it off for her, so she was stuck without her magic. However, there was a dragon here who wanted her help, so he might take it off for her. Afterwards, she would have a much easier time escaping him, once she had her magic back.


	3. Chapter 3

Seth quickly incapacitated the guards and made his way over to the princess. He hauled the fragile girl to her feet. He knew she wouldn't trust him, even if he removed the collar for her. He also knew that it would be the first step to get her to trust him. She looked up at him, terrified, but obviously plotting. He definitely wouldn't be able to trust her. She would bolt at the first opportunity. Luckily, she didn't look strong enough to actually bolt. She wasn't safe out here. He took the collar in both hands and broke it in half, freeing her from its magic. "Father would probably even kill me for that," he reminded her. She hesitated for a moment, before acknowledging that statement with a nod and heading over to the two unconscious men to erase their memories. They would forget they had seen her and think their mission was a failure. She was curious why the dragon price was helping her, but he did remove the collar from her neck. As she limped barefoot back towards the dragon prince, she used her newly freed magic to pull healing energy from the earth. Her wounds began healing as she limped over to him. The cuts and bruises faded away, leaving only the broken wing, limp, and her claws, the last of which would never heal. She stopped with plenty of distance still between them.

"Why are you helping me?" she demanded from him. He looked her over carefully, noting how much healing she had accomplished by dragging the energy from the earth. He also noted how she stopped far enough away that she thought she was safe from him. She wasn't. He could reach her easily. She was obviously still exhausted, and was dead on her feet. Even if she had been in top shape, she wouldn't have been far enough away from him. He moved faster than her exhausted body could even register and swept the girl up into his arms. She protested, of course, but was in no shape to fight him.

"I'm sorry, Kitten, but I can't let you escape. You'd die out there. And my reasons for helping you, at least for now, are my own," she struggled and protested against him, but he carried her effortlessly into the cottage and dumped her unceremoniously on the bed, bolting the door firmly after he had done so. She knew she couldn't outrun him, or beat him to the door. She was trapped here, just as effectively as she had been in the castle. He went to the stove and quickly brewed up a healing brew. Her broken wing and limp would take more than the magic she could siphon from the earth to heal. This brew was powerful and would be more helpful than anything she could do for herself right now. She was still sitting on the bed when he finished. He handed the mug to her carefully. "It's just a healing brew," he promised. He tried not to be offended when he felt her probe the contents to determine that he words were true. She had no reason to trust him. He knew that. She cautiously drank the mug, draining it quickly once she had determined it was safe. She made a face. "I know it doesn't taste good…"

"That's how you know it works," she answered automatically. It was a long-running joke among the healers. She was exhausted and finally relatively safe. Whatever Seth's plans were, they obviously didn't involve hurting her. Unfortunately for her, he had put an herb in the healing brew which would put her to sleep for a little while. She needed the rest, and he needed her to get well. It was an herb native to the dragon kingdom, so it wasn't a surprise that she hadn't noticed it. He caught her and laid her gently on the bed when her eyes drooped. She glared at him, but fell asleep too quickly to do anything about it. After putting a quick warming spell on the blanket, he covered her in it. He needed her alive and well for his own plans, as well as for her own sake. He wasn't sure he understood love, but he had come to care for the girl after they had met in the palace while she was held captive there.


	4. Chapter 4

She hadn't been asleep long when the others arrived. Seth felt their arrival and moved to open the door before they could knock. He didn't want his guests to wake the princess. She needed to rest and heal. She couldn't help his goals until she had healed. Seth stepped back from the door and let the others in. They weren't his first choice of allies, but as the less-popular dragon prince, he would take any allies he could get. The members of the group were all cloaked, hiding their identity was necessary in the dragon kingdom. One of the wolves, a centaur, and one of the mermen had come. More would join his cause once he got the heir to the avian-felis throne on his side. Seth couldn't let his brother rule.

His new arrivals looked over the sleeping girl. "Have you gotten her allegiance?" the merman asked. His voice sounded like gravel.

"She just arrived," Seth replied gruffly. His allies were all warriors. They were guards of their royal families. They were unsure of Seth, though, and looking for reassurance that he was making progress. They looked disappointed at that news.

They spoke of their plans for the future and how to stop the plans of the dragon king. Kel stirred from her nap. Seth looked over at her the moment her eyes fluttered open. She looked so confused at the new arrivals. They all bowed to her as she stood. She was still fragile, and appeared so as she stood carefully. She faltered for a moment before she fell back on protocol.

"Princess, please come join us. After all, we are discussing your future as well," Seth bid her gently. Her eyes were calculating. He didn't trust her not to do anything stupid. She moved one hesitant step towards them, then another. She was still obviously injured, but was doing her best to hide it from the others gathered here. Out of respect for her position, they were polite enough not to mention her weakness. She didn't trust any of them. Seth couldn't blame her, not really, but he needed her on his side. He needed her support and the allegiance with her tribes. First, he had to get her to trust him. That would be the hard part. He kept an eye on her as he spoke. He didn't trust her either.

Kel pretended to listen to the conversation while she took in her surroundings. The cottage was small, but was a bit crowded with the merman, wolf, dragon, and a full centaur in the tiny dining area. Kel knew it was a point of pride with the centaurs not to take a fully human form. It still didn't make the room feel any less crowded. Kel hedged around the crowd, trying to inconspicuously look for an escape route. She needed to get home. Her sisters needed her. She couldn't protect them from here. She had already been away from them too long. When it seemed like no one was paying attention to her anymore, she made a dash for the door. She hoped it would be enough. She desperately needed to get back to her family. They needed her help. She pulled open the door, then yelped when strong arms grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back inside, lifting her feet off the ground in the shrieked and beat her assailant with her wings, but it was to no avail. She was weak and injured and Seth was in perfect health and already naturally stronger than her. He carried her with no effort back into the cottage and dumped her unceremoniously on the bed. She came up spitting and hissing at him. He ignored her protests and shoved her back on the bed. He held her there with one strong arm, while he attached a manacle to her ankle with his free hand. She stared in horror at the heavy metal ring around her ankle, which was firmly affixed to the wall before she cursed him in every language she knew. She got smirks of approval from those gathered at her coarse language.

"Didn't know you could do that with a cactus," one of them chuckled. Seth left the seething princess snarling on the bed while he went to go dismiss his guests. He had to deal with the princess and she was being extremely uncooperative. He had to gain her trust, but at the same time, he needed to keep her safe until she could aid him in his plans.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded from her, effectively silencing her snarls once his guests were gone. "My father is trying to reclaim you with all of the dragon army out searching for you. It's not safe!" he snarled, smoke escaping his nostrils. "You are in danger every single moment that you are outside of these walls. Why on earth would you venture out of here by yourself? Don't you even care about stopping my father? Don't you care about keeping all of our people safe?"

"I care about my people," Kel snarled at him. "I need to get home to protect my sisters!" She knew she was too weak and injured to be out there by herself, but she didn't trust Seth or his intentions. She needed to get home and she only trusted herself to get her there. Seth sighed, calming slightly.

"You're injured and obviously not thinking clearly. Or you're just a stupid princess, unable to take care of yourself. Either way, I'm invoking the rights of Benevolent Ownership of you for the time being." With those words, he quickly removed the manacle from her ankle, but slapped a thin ring of metal around her neck instead. Something in her snapped. She conjured a frying pan from thin air and hit him upside the head with it as hard as she could. He snarled and breathed a tiny flame. "The first rule is you will never strike me again, or use your magic against me." He yanked the frying pan from her hands and stormed away from her before he did any more damage.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Seth hadn't been planning on invoking Benevolent Ownership rights on her. He technically wasn't even allowed to do so. She wasn't a Dragon, after all. The rights of Benevolent Ownership stated that any Dragon could be claimed and held in another Dragon's ownership for their own good, due to their own inability to take care of themselves. The custom was being used more and more frequently in the Dragon kingdom of late. Many of the Dragon women were being claimed as hysterical and unable to take care of themselves. Their 'husbands' were taking them into Benevolent Ownership. It was for their own good of course. Seth didn't believe it, but the custom was helping him at this moment. He left Kel snarling on the bed and wandered outside for a while as he tried to cool his own temper. The collar around her neck would keep her from escaping and she would have to obey any direct order he gave her. She'd hate him for it, naturally, but it would keep her safe until he could get her to trust him. He knew that would be a long time coming. Kel snarled and raged at him. She tried to remove the collar, but it was useless. There was still a sore ring of welted red skin around her neck from the last collar a dragon had put on her. This collar was at least lighter, and wouldn't do as much harm to her. At least not physically. She couldn't stand the thought of being enslaved again. She had just escaped. At least her magic wasn't completely bound this time, she was just restricted against harming him.

Once Seth's temper had cooled, he knew he had messed up badly. How would she ever trust him after he had collared her? There was no reason for her to trust him. He'd have to make it up to her somehow, to prove to her that he really was doing this for her own good, for the good of them all.

He returned to the cabin a couple of hours later, with dinner for them from the nearby village. The cottage was dark, she hadn't even bothered lighting any of the candles. Maybe she was mentally deficient? He entered the cottage and used his dragon fire to light a few candles and the hearth-fire. He looked around the cottage for his wayward charge. Where could she be hiding in here? She was nowhere to be seen. He grew worried, before he came to himself enough to reach out his senses to find he collared and claimed her, he would be able to find her anywhere. He relaxed when he realized that she was simply in the bathing room. With all of her injuries, bathing well was at least a decent idea, and she had probably felt safer doing so when he wasn't around. He set up their dinner at the table while he waited for her to come out. He was making enough noise that she would know he had returned.

She finally came out of the bathing room, looking shy and scared. She was dressed in nothing but one of his tunics. His _favorite_ tunic, he noted wryly. The tunic went down to her knees, so it wasn't indecent, but it wasn't the look he was expecting from the princess.  Her hair was loose down her back, in wet curls. Her cat ears, tail, and the demi wings she usually wore in her own court were all still damp from her bathing. She looked much better than she had when she first arrived, though. Except that she seemed so wilted and hopeless. He would have to do something quickly to help her, or she was going to break.

"I got us some supper," he indicated the set table. She nodded meekly, but didn't move closer to the table, or him, until he was seated, as if that would truly protect her if he meant her harm. Since he had no intention of harming her, however, he let her illusion of safety stand. She hesitantly took the other chair, looking skittish and afraid of him. He wished that he could just order her not to be afraid, but that wasn't how the magic in the collar worked. He had to earn her trust another way. Once he picked up his fork, she picked up hers and began devouring the food in front of her. He had known she had been starved in the castle, and had gotten more food that necessary for that very reason. He needed to get her strength back needed to rest and recover before she could help either of them.

"I'm sorry about earlier." It took all of Seth's courage to say those words. He truly felt them, he hadn't wanted to collar her. It was necessary at the time, though. "I couldn't let you rush off on your own to get captured by my father and Cal again. We will get you safely home, I promise you that." She didn't say anything for a moment.

"I need to get home to keep my sisters safe. I was captured keeping them safe." Kel was trying to find the words she needed. She had to convince him to let her go.

"I know!" he growled at her. "You told me all of this already!" he didn't know how to talk to her. The only female he spoke to on a regular basis was his sister, and she was a bit…strange…for a dragon female. She was only 12, though, so he knew Diana would grow out of her oddity and turn into a proper dragon lady. He didn't know what to make of this avian-felis girl. She looked younger than her years. She was 17. He knew that, but she was thin and frail, as all avians seemed to be built. On top of that was the fact that she was a mage, and mages were always thinner and less physically strong than those without magic. The channeling of power kept them from having stronger bodies for whatever reason. "I don't know how to do this," he finally admitted to her. "I don't know how to work with a female." His kind didn't even think of females as equal. She looked thoughtful at those words, and he realized in that moment that she wasn't mentally handicapped. No mage could be, not if they were to control the power he knew she held and could channel.

She hesitated a moment longer before she spoke, as if she was afraid of what she was about to say. Finally, carefully, she spoke the words: "Is it possible that we are able to begin as friends?" she asked the question in Draconian, the language of the dragons. Usually, they spoke Common, the language of all of the shifter lands. Each race had their own languages as well. Usually, outsiders did not learn the language of another shifter tribe. Her use of Draconian was too formal. He was also shocked at her coarse use of the language. She was speaking it in the male dialect. Also the word she picked for 'friends' was not one that was appropriate here, but he thought he understood what she meant. She looked hurt at his shocked expression though. "I'm sorry, did I say it wrong?" she had switched back to Common. "All of my Draconian I learned in the Dragon palace…" That explained why she spoke the male dialect. She probably picked the language up listening to the guards.

Seth thought over his reply carefully. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, since she was making such an obvious effort. "It is just a little strange to hear a lady, a princess at that, speaking such a… coarse… dialect of Draconian. There is a softer dialect that is usually used by the court ladies. The Dragons also do not usually have the concept of friendship between men and women." She looked hurt by this, so he continued quickly. "But the avians and felis do, right? So we will both work to learn how friendship between us will work."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Kel didn't know how she was going to teach the dragon about friendship. That was outside of her skillset. Unfortunately, she also knew that she had to try. "So what happens next?" she asked him. She had to know what his plan was.

"You still need time to heal and rest," he started. It was obvious she was still injured, so she didn't argue with him. "Then we can work on getting you home. Tomorrow I need to go in to town to get supplies. I don't usually keep much food and such in the cabin, since I don't stay for more than a day at a time usually. For now, we should both get some rest. You go lay down. I'll clean up," he told her, not realizing that he had given her an order. She glared at him as she was forced to follow the directions he had given her. It was natural to him to give orders to the women around him. That's how things worked in the dragon kingdom. He didn't notice her glaring as he cleaned up the dishes from dinner.

Kel would fight with him over his wording later. She could give him the benefit of the doubt for one misspoken order. She was, however, faced with a dilemma when she got back to the other room. There was only one bed. It was improper for a lady of her standing to spend the night in a bed with a male who was not her intended. It was also his bed. Dragon culture stated that he had all claim to the bed. If she slept in it, it would be interpreted that she was open to sharing the bed with him, sharing _herself_ in a bed with him. She was not willing to do that. Instead, she curled herself on the floor in front of the hearth. It wasn't as comfortable as a bed, but there would be no misunderstanding and it was much more comfortable than the experience she'd had in the dragon kingdom.

Seth wasn't paying attention to the girl as she was being quiet and out of his way while he worked. He wasn't used to being around females, except Diana. He was shocked, when he looked over to the bed and saw that she wasn't there. Why wasn't she there? The door was still locked. He rushed over towards the bed and saw her curled up like a kitten in front of the hearth. That didn't make any sense to him. He'd told her to lay down, but he had meant in the bed, where injured people were supposed to be. He knelt down and shook her awake. She mewed at him softly as she came to. "Why are you sleeping on the floor?" he demanded, none too gently. She winced away from his sharp tone. "Injured people sleep in beds." Maybe she was mentally deficient after all…

"Dragon culture states that if I had slept in your bed, I would be telling you that I was open to romantic advances," she mumbled sleepily. She wasn't quite as careful with her words when she was tired, he noted. She wasn't as guarded and was more open with him. "If I slept on the floor, there would be no confusion," He swept her up into his arms effortlessly and took her to the bed, despite her weak sleepy protests.

"I am not getting any ideas that you are offering yourself to me. You are injured. You need the bed." He told her gently as he tucked the blanket around her and put a warming spell on it. She wasn't strong enough to do it herself yet. "Get some sleep, get some rest. We have a rough journey ahead of us, once you're well enough to travel." She was asleep before he had finished speaking. He tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear and fought the urge to kiss her forehead. That would not be appropriate. He didn't understand these new feelings. He shifted into dragon form and curled up in front of the cabin's door. No one would get past a dragon on guard duty. That was, after all, what dragons did best: guard things of value to them. They would both be in for a shock when they realized that Kel was the sole 'item' in this dragon's hoard.


	7. Chapter 7

Seth watched as Kel had began to doze off to sleep. He watched her intently until he was sure she was asleep. He was still on guard duty, but once she was safely asleep, he could move about the cabin more freely. Once he was sure she was out he slipped outside for a moment and quickly returned with something wrapped in purple wrapping paper. He set the present, a new set of clothing for the girl, on the chair beside the bed. He tried to stay awake through the night but with being afraid of making noises that would awaken the sleeping princess, he soon found himself bored and dozed off himself laying guarding the door.

It was nearly morning when Kel woke again, feeling much better, and healed a lot more. She looked around the dim cottage, but her cat eyes were good at seeing when it was dim. She saw the dragon dozing on the floor, laying against the door. She wouldn't try to escape, as that was useless, but she knew it was even less likely with a dragon guarding the only way out. She snuck out of bed and padded silently into the kitchen.

Kel worked on breakfast and left it to stay warm once it was finished. She didn't want to wake the sleeping dragon, though, so she found the sole book in the cabin and curled up in the comfy chair by the fire to read until he woke.

He awoke a few hours later and noticed the girl dozed off in the chair with the book open on her lap, where she'd clearly been reading. The way she was sitting in the chair made it clear that she wasn't wearing anything under the tunic. He quickly looked away to prevent himself from doing something he might regret and got up and approached her laying the gift he had gotten for her on her lap. He then quickly turned and went into the bath area to wash himself off with cool water.

She woke from her doze, her cat ears catching the noises in the cabin and waking her before he dropped the present onto her lap. She watched him quickly walk off to the private area as if something was bothering him. She didn't know what she could have done to upset him so early in the morning. She then took notice of the present, and sat up all the way, her curiosity overruling all other emotions. Cats were overly curious creatures after all. She opened it to find a new dress inside. It was lower cut than typical avian style, but it was gorgeous and would look amazing on her. She smiled, and, checking to make sure Seth was still in the other room, quickly changed into it, and squeed a little. It really was a perfect dress for her. She didn't know how he'd managed, that, but he had.

Seth came out of the private area unaware that Kel had awoken. He looked near the chair and saw the wrapping paper scattered on the floor. He then turned slightly more and saw she was wearing the dress he had gotten her. His mouth quickly fell agape as he took in this site of beauty that Kel was. He tried to speak. "ummm... ummm... ummm..." but that was all he could get out as his eyes came across the low cut area around her breasts and he took in her milky white cleavage for the first time. He couldn't break his stare as much as he tried. His cold shower was now for naught as his desire for her quickly returned.

She smiled at him when he came back and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you," she told him, and bounced off to dish out breakfast. Dragons were usually hungry, and she wasn't mean enough to only make food for her. He also promised not to order her around except for emergencies, so she could contemplate forgiving him, especially since he was really trying to help, trying to be her friend, and trying to be nice.

"You're welcome Kitten. I couldn't have you running around in those tatters or my clothes for long. I'd of had a stroke before long. Though you look just as good in that dress as you did in my tunic but a lot more presentable to company this way." He then blushed as he realized what he had just said and also at having been hugged by the princess. He had never been this easily riled by a girl before and he didn't know what to do about it.

She giggled at the boy, who was being silly. She dished out the porridge she had made for breakfast. She hope it'd be good enough. He was going to have to go get food soon, the hut wasn't very well stocked. "Sorry breakfast isn't very extravagant," she said as she set it out for him.

"The breakfast is good Kitten. We will have to go out and get some more supplies in the very near future. Maybe we can do that after we clean up the place a little bit." He suggested. He was hesitant to take her out in public but knew that it would be very needed if he was going to keep her morale up. "If you want to go with me you can but I'll need you to glamour yourself so you don't look easy to identify because about everyone and their little brother will know who you are if you don't."

She was surprised to say the very least. She was more than surprised. After how insistent he'd been on her staying here, he was offering to let her leave? It didn't make any sense. Was this some kind of test to see if she was trustworthy or not? That made sense at least. If she was still dying to escape, she'd jump at the opportunity to leave in hopes of ditching him in the market, or wherever the supplies were. She also noticed his hesitation, he didn't really want to take her out of here. So she decided to answer the only way she could. Her cat ears drooped a little, sadly. "It's probably best if I stay here..."

He noticed her ears drooping and he felt a pang in his heart. "It may be best to stay here but I'll be there with you to protect you. Also I trust you enough that if you promise to stay with me I'll take you at your word for it and won't even have to make a command for you to stay with me." He really didn't want her to feel stuck here forever and he wanted her to learn to trust him but he knew there was no way he could ask that of her if he couldn't take a leap and trust her.

There was no reason for him to trust her. It had been barely a day. She also was stuck here for basically ever, at least the foreseeable future. "They'll be expecting me to be seeking aid around here, and my glamours aren't that good. Not that detailed for that long..." yes, she wanted to get out of being cooped up and trapped somewhere, but this seemed like a horrible idea.

He noticed she still seemed reluctant to go. He began to wonder what was bothering her. He debated for a few minutes as he continued to eat his food whether he should ask her or not. He didn't want to ask her because he was a dragon and dragons did't care about other's feelings, but he did care about hers for some reason so finally he broke down and asked her. "What's wrong why don't you want to go? What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of being caught by the dragons again. I'm afraid this is some trick. I'm afraid of being hurt again," she mewed, her cat ears drooped, and betraying her emotions, again. It was a weakness of the felis, their ears and tails always gave their emotions away. She got up quickly and went to clean the breakfast dishes. There was no reason for him to trust her not to leave, it had to be a trick.

"I'm not going to let anyone catch you or hurt you. I understand you being afraid of the dragons but we will only be gone around an hours time. No-one is going to be able to hurt you while I'm around and like I said I'm putting my trust in you that you want to make sure your family is safe as long as possible and wouldn't risk things by running off on your own. I think your smart enough to know that if the dragons catch you that your family is good as dead because they would try to break your spirit." He looked her in the eyes trying to alleviate her fears but was afraid he might of made them a lot worse.

He did make her fears a lot worse. She didn't need reminded that her family was in danger. So why was he trying to push her to leave here? He had been so forceful in making her stay. "Why do you want me to go so badly? It would be safer for me to stay here, and we both know that," she didn't think he'd really trust her, there was no reason for him too. She didn't want to risk anything that would end with her family hurt. She was hesitant and scared, and her cat ears were still all drooped, making her look especially pitiful.

She looked terrible. He didn't know what to do. She was fearful of something and it was overriding her desire to be out of this hut. He was at a loss as his eyes began to show sympathy. He let out a small roar of confusion as he finally spoke. "I don't know why you're so fearful of leaving but I won't force you to go. You can stay here or you can go with me I'll let you make the decision."

"After your big long speech about how my family and I will all die if I'm not here and protected, of course I'm afraid, stubborn snarly male. You also don't want me to leave, you've said yourself that I'm a prisoner here, so again, why do you suddenly what me to leave?" she snarled, frustrated. He was being a stubborn snarly male. And confusing. However, while she was grumbling, she began working on a glamour. Glamours for small objects weren't so difficult, glamouring all of her would be a bigger challenge. Also finding a glamour of an appropriate companion for the prince would be difficult. She finally settled on a generic dragon lady, around 20 years old, tan skin, dragon wings, bright sapphire eyes. Let the press think the prince was wooing her.

"I don't want you leaving on your own. It's too dangerous. I never intended for you to view this or treat it as a prison. This will probably get me hit with a frying pan but if a small child tries to run away from the parents because they aren't letting them do what they want but the parents are protecting the child against some form a self destruction you wouldn't view that as a bad thing or that the child is in prison would you? I just want you to be safe. My methods were wrong and I can't tell you how sorry I am but I know if your glamour can hold up for an hour or two you'll be safe with me. I don't think you will be safe here in the hut alone if I leave. There are many things that can go wrong and I won't be here to help you." As he was rambling on he noticed that she had changed her look to that of a very pretty if not stereotypical dragon woman. "Wow, you look good no matter what form you take." He blushed at his response.

She just ignored the comments about him comparing her to a small child. He had been treating her like a prisoner. It wasn't worth the effort to argue with him. Especially as glamours were not easy to create and took a lot of work to maintain, so that was taking up a lot of her attention. She smiled at his response, though, and went to rummage through the dresser, finally finding what she was looking for: one of his cloaks. She could do some work on it to make it fit properly later, but for now, if her glamour faded, she could at least hide her features under it for a little while. She yawned. "If we're heading out, we should before I can't hold the glamour," she reminded him. "We can clean later,"

He agreed that we should go now and clean up later and he quickly grabbed a coat in case it got too cold for her. Being a dragon with a special heat source he wasn't so worried about his own warmth. He reined up the horse that he kept nearby to keep up the image of a small farmer. He then called for her to join him on the horse. "It's only a couple miles into town. It shouldn't be long then we can pick up some essentials and whatever you want to look at before heading back."

She knew that since she was disguised as a dragon that even if it got too cold, she couldn't show it without risking her disguise. Dragons were always warm, even the dragon women. She climbed up on the horse behind him, and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist, so she wouldn't fall off. He was as warm as she remembered. He'd keep her company in her cell occasionally. And would warm her back up. Dragons were always warm. Frail little mage girls were not. Frail little mage girls locked in a dungeon were even less warm.

He felt her arms wrap around him as she got on the horse. It felt nice as she pressed her body against him. He could tell she was already cold but was glad for the presence of her behind him on the horse. "Is there anything I can do to help? You're already freezing." He prayed that she would ask him to stay close to her while they were in the small village shopping.

She laid her head on his back tiredly as they rode into town, her arms wrapped firmly around him, stealing some of his warmth. "Just stay warm. Anything else might ruin my disguise as a dragon," she reminded him. She assumed he was going to stay close to her. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight, if she was reading him correctly.

They were off quickly and it wasn't even 20 minutes later they came into the small hamlet. It had basically any of the general needs a farmer or small village would need but not much in the way of amenities. This hamlet you could tell had been the victim of more than one war yet the morale in it always seemed high. All the people living there seemed to be happy and upbeat about something but he couldn't place his finger on it as he helped Kel off the horse.

She looked over the small village a little in awe. She'd been so locked up for so long, she'd only seen the outside world besides what she could see out of the tiny window, once in months, and that was yesterday when she'd escaped.

He could tell she was tired and wore out already. He doubted she could even make it the couple hours he was hoping to give her out here among the people to show her the world she would be going back to as soon as he could defeat his father. He needed to find a way to move the time table up so that he could give her her freedom. It was eating at his soul to be making this beautiful creature suffer like she was. “Let's get some food for the house quickly and then we can explore the hamlet until you feel to weak. I'll even let you lead the way."

She was tired and worn out already. Glamour on such a large scale were not easy. She was trying to hide it, though. She didn't want to worry him. She nodded and looked around the village, trying to get her bearings. It wasn't a difficult thing, though she'd never been here before, but it didn't take long to find the food sellers, and that was the first stop anyway. She stayed close to him, his cloak wrapped around her, as they headed that way. He was warm, and it was cold out here.

Seth thought to himself maybe he should of waited until later in the day when it was much warmer as he could feel her drawing heat from his body. If he wasn't careful she would blow both their covers and his feelings for her would jeopardize the entire operation to save the world. He looked at her briefly before pulling her aside and down a small alley way. He was unaware of the two young children watching as he leaned in towards here looking her directly in the eyes. "Trust me on this one." His lips met hers as he began to breathe warmth into her mouth in the form of a kiss. He just hoped she would stay calm long enough for this to work. It would keep her warm for hours and would even give her a little strength to maintain her magic a bit longer then otherwise possible in her condition.

She hadn't been trying to draw heat from him, and was even proud of herself for not showing her weakness to the cold. She was trying not to blow her cover. She was pretending to be a dragon woman after all. She was rather confused as to why he was pulling her down an alley. What had she done wrong? It seemed silly of him to do. He stopped and leaned in towards her. She stiffened, when he kissed her, but let him, barely. She did finally relax, and even purred as he was sharing his warm with her.

He explained why he had just done what he had done and then smiled and spoke, "And you kiss pretty well too." He grinned as he wanted to kiss her more but decided against it even though he was sure he had her purring just a few seconds ago. There was no time to waste even with his augmentation to her he knew the glamour would wear off soon. He would try to find a way to steal another kiss once they were back to safety.

Once back in the small market place he looked over the food that they had in front of them. He continually eyed the meats on the tables in small ice bins. The vegetables really didn't do much for his dragon tastes but he would let Kel pick out everything. He would give her as much control over the situation as he could to try and make up for the mistake of collaring her. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to remove it from her because he was certain that he wanted to keep her in his life always. "Go ahead and pick out what you want. I'll eat about anything." He lied though dragons had iron stomachs they still didn't like to eat anything that tasted bad to them.

She got shy around him again at that comment, and even blushed a little. She eyed the food too, also watching what he was looking at. The only things she really didn't eat were birds, because she was half-avian after all. She picked them out enough food to last about a week, and it was a good balance of meat, potatoes, veggies, and other essential foodstuffs. Mostly meat. After that part was taken care of, they got to wander for awhile, which included lots of staring at books and deciding what might be essential wardrobe items.

He stared at her intently watching as she took everything in. He couldn't appear to be caring; dragon men were never nice to women even their own in most cases. He could reasonably keep an eye on her, though, obviously acting as a guard. He kept a put-upon expression on his face and got knowing nods from the other dragon men. They assumed he was humoring a potential mate by indulging the silly female shopping habits.

He had heard about times when it wasn't the case that men couldn't care, but that had changed when his grandfather had taken over the dragon-clan and exerted his outdated male supremacy beliefs on the clan. He noticed that Kel's eyes kept going to one book in particular while they were in the area that had books so when she scurried off towards the clothing area he quickly tracked down the vendor for that particular book and paid him for it. He hid it in his pouch and would give it to her when they arrived home. He then went in search of her in the tailor shop that he had seen her walk into.

She had a few pieces of clothing in her arms when he caught back up with her. She was surprised he'd left her on her own, but men generally did not like clothes shopping, so it was a bit to be expected. She wasn't insisting on getting books, she was however insisting on clothes, since one dress wasn't going to last her very long. So she had picked enough pieces to properly make a few more outfits, enough to last her a while longer at least. She could hem his cloak, so she wasn't too concerned with trying to find one of those. However, it would be apparent to the prince that her glamour was starting to fade, as her skin color was changing back from the dragon tan to her usual pale. She also tried to stifle a yawn behind one of her hands.

Seth quickly took the money out of his money pouch and headed to the tailor and paying him for all the garments. He grabbed Kel by the arm and pulled her towards the exit. She eeped softly when he grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the exit. That's when she noticed her glamour starting to fade. She raised the hood of the cloak, hiding her features under it. She followed him, holding some of their purchases and hiding as much of herself under the cloak as possible.  "Hey Kitten we really need to get out of here." He then began to move quickly towards their horse. He had let go of Kel's arm though thinking she would have enough sense to follow. As he got closer to the horse his heart leapt nearly out of his chest as he saw two of the best trackers from the dragon kingdom near their horse. "Shit." He said in a whisper to no one other than himself. He then looked to see if Kel was behind him still.

She noticed the dragons near their horse, and didn't know what they were going to do. . .

Seth strode toward the trackers giving the portrayal of confidence that he normally had, "Sal, Kal how are you? I didn't expect to see you here but I'm glad you're here." As he got them to turn their backs he nodded for Kel to come closer. "I've been out on my own trying to find my brother's betrothed but I've lost her trail a couple miles northwest of here, Kel and Seth had came from the northeast. "Maybe you will have better luck than me. I can show you where it was that I lost her if you need me to." He then hoped Kel was quick enough to pack everything up and hop on the horse so he could get her sent on her way before helping these two cretins.

Kel made her way over silently, since she was a felis after all. She packed their things up equally silently and got them situated on the horse, making sure her cloak was covering her well, as her glamor had completely faded. She kept her wings pressed firmly to her back and tried to keep her cat ears flat against her head. She carefully unhitched the horse, hoping the poor horse would stay quiet so the dragons wouldn't really notice her. She mounted the horse, taking the reins carefully, concealing her scarred fingertips, and urged the horse forward, assuming the prince would catch back up to her later. It seemed the first goal was to get her away. She hoped it would work, hoped the dragons wouldn't notice her, or catch her scent in the air.

Just as Seth was sure he had distracted them enough that she was going to be able to get away he noticed that Sal began to sniff the air, and soon Kal was doing the same. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before they locked in on Kel and she was just starting to get the horse to a walking speed when one of Kal hollered out "Hey miss why don't you stop right there." Seth was at a loss at what to do when they asked her to stop. His own nostrils began to flare as he attempted to convince them he was taking in the scent as well. He waited to see what she did to figure out his own course of action.

She didn't stop and instead urged the horse forward a little faster. She had an idea, and conveyed as much to Seth through thought-speak, but they had to get away from the village where other people could see her, first. So she reassured Seth that she had a plan and urged the horse forward, hoping he'd play his part as she expected him to.

"There she goes how did she slip right under my nose!" He shouted as he took after her on foot while she was on the horse. He was able to close the gap in time he knew that much but there was no way any of them would be able to catch her before they were deep into the woods. This wouldn't solve all their problems but it did make things a lot easier. Once they were into the woods he began to close the gap a bit more quickly with the two dragon goons in close pursuit.

Kel was very smart in her planning and knew that she had to incapacitate the dragons before she could wipe their memories. She rode into a field and put her plan into motion there, knowing she had scant seconds. She first put up a barrier which would let them through, but freeze them as they entered the field. As they were coming up on the field the horse threw her. She had planned for the horse to throw her. She fell, appearing to land badly and be injured, so they would be so focused on her weakness and their ability to catch her that they wouldn't notice the trap.

They ran right into the field and were instantly frozen, except Seth. The collar around her neck protected him from her magic. She quickly got up and went to the other dragons, touching their foreheads to erase their memories and make it so they thought they had lost the scent, went to the village, couldn't find her, and got drunk. They'd wake the next morning believing that. She also wiped the memory of her exact scent from them, so they wouldn't be able to track her nearly as easily. She then sent them on their way and they zombied off. Her legs gave out from under her, and it was only leaning on the horse that kept her from collapsing entirely. She was spent, and her magic was as well.

Seth began to close the gap with the other two right behind him. He felt the danger as she had been thrown by the horse. He could sense it was a trap but he wasn't sure if he was in danger or not. Since her intention wasn't to hurt him he knew that much he might be collateral damage in whatever was about to happen. He was about to brace himself when he decided to trust her judgement and see what happens. He watched as his two kinsmen became frozen and after she had approached them they soon headed back to town acting like nothing had happened. He moved to her once she started to droop on the horse and caught her before she fell.

He mounted the horse behind her and began to lead it off in the direction of the hut holding her close, keeping her body warm, and trying not to wake her as he got them home. He needed to figure out how to do things like this to keep her happy and yet do it in a safer manner. Today had worked out alright in the end but it was a close call he wasn't willing to repeat it.

She snuggled into his warm, purring ever so softly. She was exhausted. He was keeping her safe, so she snuggled herself in his arms. He wasn't hurting her. They were safe for now, at least until the next set of trackers caught her trail. He kept the pace fairly gentle as they went back, as if he was trying not to wake her, and she found herself dozing off in his arms.

They soon had made it back to the hut and he wasn't even exactly sure but it seemed like she was encouraging his holding her by moving closer and closer to him as the moved towards the cottage. As they reached the cottage he stopped the horse and got off gently before picking up the princess trying not to awaken her and carried her inside the cottage before laying her on the bed so she could sleep. He then pulled the book out of his pouch and placed it on the night table before going to the chair before going to sleep himself.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Kel didn't sleep extremely long, even with how exhausted she was from that bit of magic, it wasn't too long before she woke. She mewed softly as she stretched and looked around confused. She hadn't remembered falling asleep. She remembered her trap and how it had worked, but she hadn't remembered passing out from exhaustion. She saw Seth sleeping in the chair. At least it seemed her plan had worked and they weren't followed back here. She got up a little stiffly, and still tired. She'd need more rest before pulling off any more magic. She did get their purchases put away, then noticed the book on the nightstand. She picked it up and smiled. Seth had gotten it for her. She remembered eyeing it in the bookstore. All throughout her cleaning, she was padding around the hut silently through years of experience. The felis could always move silently when they wished. She went to the prince and woke him with lunch.

Long before the prince had been awoken by the felis girl silently sneaking up on him he could smell the food in the air and had begun to awaken on his own but she had provided the final startling shaking that had awaken him from his dreams of her and him married leading the Avian, Felis, and Dragon races to a new height as they were married after the war. She was sneaky enough to still startle him but not enough that he struck her when awaking. "God Kitten we need to get you a bell or something so you can't sneak up on me like that."

She giggled at him, not sure if he was joking or not. She went with the obvious that he was joking. "Thank you for the book," she told him as she handed him his lunch. The hut was also a bit cleaner than it was this morning. Things seemed to be a bit awkward, so she took her book to a perch at the window with her lunch sitting half-eaten at her feet. She was both felis and avian and neither species liked being cooped up, but at least sitting in the window seat helped some. It was as close as she could get to being outside for awhile. She didn't think he'd risk her going out again for a long time. She hated feeling like a prisoner, but she still was, no matter what he wanted to say.

As Seth sat there eating his lunch, he watched as she hadn't even bothered to finish her meal. He thought that just wouldn't do. "I know you may not want to eat all your food kitten but you need to eat up. You still have lots of energy to replenish." He then watched her as she looked out the window longingly and he didn't know how to make things right or better for her. "Look I'm sorry this has ended up this way. Maybe you can help me come up with ideas or some way so you can go out regularly."

She glanced up at him, startled. It wasn't that she hadn't bothered eaten, she'd just gotten distracted by her book instead. "Oh," she replied a bit startled, cuz she'd been lost in her book. She did finish her lunch, though, mostly to get back to her book. She was trying not to be obvious about her longing to be outside, or at least not to be cooped up, and had figured she'd done a good enough job, until he brought it up. Maybe her picking the window-seat to read in was too obvious. She didn't know how to reply to that, so she just nodded and went back to her book. The window seat was comfy at least and had a nice view of outside, unlike her last prison, which had only had a tiny window too high for her to see out of.

Seth could tell she wasn't talking to him and he found this frustrating and exciting at the same time. No-one not even his father shrugged him off like she seemed to be doing and he didn't know how to get her to open up to him. His frustration was mounting though he didn't show it to the point he almost considered commanding her on accident. "Hey look Kitten, I can't make things better for you if you don't talk to me. I'm not a mind reader. At least not unless you cast a spell on me that makes me one. I'm sorry you're stuck here with someone like me but we both know that its for the best at least for a month or two."

Kel sighed and shut her book, frustrated. "I don't know how you can make things better. I'm stuck here, as you said, you're prisoner until this is over..." if then, she added to herself. "I know it's for the best..." she was frustrated too. Being stuck with him 24/7 was already raking on her nerves if he was going to keep trying to force her to be happy with the situation, even worse if he was going to keep expecting her to be happy, or give him instant answers on how to make things better. She just didn't have was frustrated by him though, he seemed to want her to be happy, but kept thinking of her as his prisoner. He didn't seem to want to talk to her as a real person. Maybe if he'd just start a normal conversation... but she doubted that'd happen.

He was confused about everything that was going on and frustrated and he was taking it out on her but he was completely unaware of it. He let another outburst begin to leave his lips. "Damn it Kitten, I LOVE YOU. I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with you at all. If you were one of our women it would be easy I'd just be commanding you to do things or did you not notice the collars on all the women in my clan? I know that isn't the right thing to do I just want to make you happy but not force it on you. I want you to not be here because you have to but because you want to be here with me. I am just too stupid to know how to do that for you. I'm struggling against my kinds very nature to treat you as you feel you should be treated and I don't know what to freaking do and you won't help me out here at all to make things better for you."

She was shocked, beyond shocked actually. He loved her? He seemed to barely be able to stand her at times. She thought for a second on how to deal with him. Dealing with frustrated angry dragons was always tricky. She thought of what she had learned about his kind from her lovely stay there. "I did notice the collars on the women," she told him softly. She knew her voice would carry, but her calm soft tone would be plenty helpful. The avians never rushed into decisions, never wore their emotions to be seen by others. She used that side now when dealing with him and kept herself calm. She thought of how to word her suggestion first, before she blurted out any words that would only upset him more. "W-why don't you start with trying to be my friend, instead of my prison guard?" she asked him softly, a little hesitantly, worried he may blow a gasket again. They had tried this discussion once already before. He seemed to have forgotten it. He seemed confused again.

"Trying to be your friend?" This did not compute for Seth. He thought he was treating her better than anyone he knew. He had to bite his tongue not to order her to think of him like she loved him too. He knew that would be wrong but he wasn't sure how to treat a female and a person from what he viewed to be a lesser race as an equal or a friend. "I don't want you to treat this or me like a part of a prison, a safehouse or protective custody may be a better analogy anyway, but I don't know how to do as you have asked. I'm willing to learn but you have to show some patience and stop looking at me like I'm treating you like a prisoner you have to realize I'm acting on my own clans views and customs and it takes time for me to change my behavior or even begin to understand where you're coming from."

He may have been treating her better than anyone he knew, however he wasn't being very friend-like. She bit back a snarky comment about him not wanting her to treat this like a prison. She did grumble a little, but was trying to hold on to what little patience that the felis had. "I don't want to argue with you, because, let's face it, it's useless," she reminded him.

The both grumbled, but Seth finally broke through and tried to think how he had befriended some of the younger dragon boys in the castle. "Look Kitten, I'm not good at this kind of thing but if you want to try to be friends why don't you let me teach you how to use a sword and you can teach me something you like to do? Is that a good enough start for you?"

Kel smiled at him, not a big smile, but a smile nonetheless. She pondered what she could teach him, though. "I warn you, mages generally aren't good at learning to use a sword," she reminded him. Mages had weaker bodies, but strong magic. Also she wasn't a dragon. "I don't know what I'd teach you, though. I'm not good at much, besides magic, stories, and languages..." she babbled. She was adorable while she was babbling and speaking unguardedly, just as he should remember her being from her captivity in the castle.

"You may be weak physically but a good swordsman should be able to teach you ways to overcome that. Wielding the sword effectively is more about dexterity than strength, and if I can manage to teach you how to tap your magic and add it to your swordsmanship you will be a formidable foe for anyone. Also teaching me about your books is fine, or magic is good too. My kind is actually natural with magic but my family has made it so it's rare to see any of us use magic beyond the simplest of spells because of my families barbaric views." He smiled at her to look and see if she really thought this was going to be as fun as he did.

Kel smiled at him. Things were much better when they weren't bickering at each other. She'd have something to do to keep her impatient felis-half occupied, and it would be something useful too. "Then I'll teach you magic," she smiled at him, bouncing a little on her bare feet. She cleaned up the dishes quickly from lunch, and put her book somewhere safe. "So are we starting with swords or magic?" she asked him, relieved to have something to do, and things were much more pleasant this way without them trying to snarl at each other constantly.

"Swords first because you may actually need to defend yourself physically at some point." He grabbed a couple of practice swords and led her out the front door. He began to think that it was going to be interesting to see once they actually got to sparring if the collar would allow her to do such a thing. "Here take this sword. and grip it like this." He showed her how to hold the sword getting close to her and enjoying the closeness but trying to remain professional and friendly at the same time.

Kel paused at the doorway, but he finally told her to come out, so that worked without her having to draw his attention to the limitations of what she could do while wearing the collar. This stupid collar was especially annoying in such situations. She figured it would let her spar with him, as it was just to teach her how to fight, not to actually hurt him. She took the sword, and gripped it as instructed, actually perfectly. Another side effect of the collar, she'd learn how to do this perfectly, since she'd perform everything perfectly and follow his corrections perfectly at his direct orders. She smiled at him, a little worried he might figure that out and order her to do other things, but he seemed to be behaving himself on that front.

Seth was amazed at how easily she had taken up what he instructed her to do not even thinking about the fact that she was wearing the collar and he was giving her orders. It made him feel good like he was actually a good teacher and smiled a grin as he looked at her. "It seems that you're a natural. Are you sure you haven't practiced much with weapons?" He then showed her how to swing it and told her to do just that and practice it until she got it right.

She was taking it up rather quickly. At least he wasn't really figuring out why, but she also somehow had the feeling that even if she ever did get the collar off, she would still be able to do it perfectly. "No, mages don't practice with weapons, especially when they are princesses, who obviously have no use for protecting themselves," She kept practicing with him, probably past the point when she got too tired for it, but she was enjoying being outside.

Seth was impressed with how her training was going and told her that they would spar the next time so that they could measure how well the training had went. He noticed how she was starting to tire but continued on because she was intent on impressing him at least that's what he thought. He smiled and spoke in a friendly manner not even realizing he had done it. "That's enough why don't we go inside so you can rest and I'll make us some hot chocolate does that sound nice?"

She smiled sleepily at him. She was intent on impressing him, but she did get to the point she should stop. "Mmm, hot chocolate sounds nice," she told him, purring ever so slightly at the idea of going back in the warm with hot chocolate. He should like her purring. She'd be sore later, since she'd never done anything like this, but it was nice to learn how to protect herself. That was the point of learning it after all. That and to give her something constructive to do so she didn't feel quite so cooped up.

They entered the hut and he headed straight to the stove to make her hot chocolate and himself some too. He thought he would offer to warm some bath water for her after that if she wanted to clean herself up. After just a few minutes he was sure he got the hot chocolate just right and asked her a simple question, "Creme or no creme?" He figured this was an important question and would tell him more about the type of girl she was.

She stood behind him as he worked, and watched him cooking very cat-like. It was probably very cute. She flicked her cat ears at him a bit surprised by his question. "Creme, please," she replied. Cats liked creme. Did he not understand that?

He handed her a cup of hot cocoa with some specially made whipped creme and watched in delight as she began to sip the hot beverage. He couldn't even hardly drink his as he watched her cute reactions to the situation. He wanted to make small talk but he was nervous and clueless on how she would react to his thoughts. So he just sat there contently trying to drink his own drink while watching her.

She squeed, since it'd been ages since she had anything as nice as hot chocolate. She licked the creme off of the top very cutely and purred, not even softly this time, at the hot chocolate, and even a little at the boy who made it for her. "I didn't think hot chocolate was a common drink among the dragons," she said as she sipped on it cutely, careful not to burn her sensitive cat-tongue.

He could not believe how adorable and cute she was. He could hear her purring and enjoying her chocolate. He wasn't sure she was enjoying his company though because he wasn't able to strike up any conversation always afraid that he would say the wrong thing he had remained quiet. When she spoke it was like music to his ears. "Oh no most of my kind would never admit to liking something such as chocolate so I can only have things like that out here in my hut that no one from the kingdom knows about." He didn't want to reveal to her how much he hated how his kind acted but he had to be prepared to deal with them so had to maintain his image and sometimes that bled through to his interactions with others.

"Aww, that's so sad. Even the reserved Avians admit to liking chocolate as a delicacy," the felis were obvious about their like of sweet things. She smiled at him. "So what things do you like?" she asked him curiously, her cat ears flicking a little, and her tail swishing. Both cats and felis were curious things by nature. She was no exception.

"You mean besides you?" He paused, "Well I like protecting things I care about, sports, camping, swimming, I do like sweets, but if you tell anyone they will ridicule me, I like eating and spending time in this cabin away from my less civilized clan, I would like to read but the choices for my kind to read are only war stories, the art of war, and stories of the legendary dragons." He looked her in the eyes as he took a big drink of his own hot chocolate getting some whipped cream on his nose.

She thought over what he was saying. "All felis like sweets. The avians will admit to liking it, but only grudgingly. I love books and have a whole library of my own... I love flying, even used to enjoy hunting with my sisters. Not that we needed to hunt, but it was nice to get out in animal form for awhile. And like many of the felis, I enjoy dance. Which is one of the few felis things Father will put up with after mom died..." she sipped her hot chocolate, and looked up at the prince, noticing as she met his eyes, that he had whipped cream on his nose. There was only one appropriate felis reaction to this. Only one. It took all of her willpower not to do it, and that only lasted a few seconds before she darted forward and licked the whip cream from his nose. She blushed and went back to staring at her hot chocolate, pretending nothing had happened.

Seth was unaware of the whipped topping on his nose so he was shocked when she had moved swiftly across the table and licked his nose. He just stared at her with his jaw agape not willing to say anything that might scare her off. He had finally got her to open up and talk to him and he didn't want to ruin it and scare her off. He knew cats and birds could both be skittish animals and was sure that the shifters of those races could be as well. He just continued to stare at her as he took in her beautiful body.

She glanced up to see his reaction, to at least see if he was upset at her. She was horrified by what she had done. He was a dragon and probably hadn't understood the felis reaction. He didn't seem to be upset, though. "Um... y-you had whipped cream on your nose," she explained softly, going back to staring at her hot chocolate. She was still blushing rather deeply, as that had gone completely against her avian upbringing, and her own common sense, even if she was half felis.

He grinned at her and smiled. "Yes, of course that is the only reason someone as lovely as yourself would do something so intimate to someone like me." He then took another big drink from his cup finishing it off and again there was some cream on his nose that he was unware of. Dragons' table manners were not the best and Seth was no exception. "I could fix us some fresh fish to eat tonight if you would like or..." He lost his train of thought as he watched the girls' expressions and movements.

Kel continued blushing, not admitting that she liked him. He had been kind to her so far, of at least kind by dragon standards. She glanced up and saw more cream on his nose. Silly boy. She nimbly, and silently, darted to lick it off, only taking a single step back afterwards. "Fresh fish?" she asked, curious, tilting her head to the side adorably, and flicking her cat ears. She hadn't remembered buying any fish, since dragons were usually more partial to redder meats, and so they'd have to go catch some.

"Yes, we can go get some fish if you want. No magic this time though. It really didn't work as well as we liked and you're still recovering from it. If things go south we will just have to make it look like I'm catching you until we can get rid of the others. If you don't feel like going with me though and would rather stay here I'll go get some and bring it back." He then flashed her a smile of his pearly whites having enjoyed the lick on his nose a second time and the cuteness of her expression at the mention of fish.

She smiled a little, but hesitated. She knew the limitations he had place on her, and if anything happened while he was out, it would probably end badly, much as she was just tired and wanted to curl up in the bed for awhile. She yawned, though, her cat-ears flattening against her head, showing how tired she was. She was a princess, though, and hid the yawn behind one of her hands. Maybe he'd just suggest she stay here and get some rest, since he wouldn't be gone long.

He noticed that she was tired and had caught her yawn even if she had tried to hide it behind her paws. "It would be safer with me I think and I'd rather you went with me, but you seem tired and could catch a nap while I am out. Unless..." he paused for a few seconds while a grin formed on his face. "Unless you would rather we both just stay here and cuddle for a bit." He really thought he should take her with him if he was going to leave. He thought it would be best if they both just stayed here where it was safe but he knew that fish would be one of if not her favorite food and she hadn't even bought any at the store earlier. He would let her make the decision even though he had worded it so that it sounded like he was the one really making the decision.

She snarled at him softly, letting him know he'd overstepped his bounds. "You are not nearly familiar enough to suggest that, prince," she never called him that, unless he wasn't being appropriate. Much as she wanted to curl up and get some rest, she realized it was better to go with him. "I guess I better go with you, then," she added, trying to keep moving a bit before her limbs completely stiffened up. Since she'd never done any physical activity like that before, she was going to be a sore mess as soon as she ever did get some rest.

Seth led her out of the house towards a small pond that was nearby and completely surrounded by woods. He was sure that neither of them would be caught by passerbys in a location like this but to be sure he made a suggestion to her. "Unless you want to help me fish you could transform into a bird or cat or something to make yourself less recognizable to others so that we hopefully will not have to fight anything." As he cast his fishing line into the pond for the first time his mind began to wonder with why she had gotten all formal with him when all he had done was suggest snuggling. Didn't women and especially cats like that sort of thing. This girl continued to confuse the dragon prince and he felt he was fighting a losing battle with no hope of ever achieving victory.

She followed his suggestion, and shifted form quickly and gracefully into a domestic house-cat sized cat. She was a little orange tabby-cat with a black collar with a bell on it. She stretched, readjusting to the new body and caught back up with the boy. She wasn't opposed to snuggling. She was however, opposed to him assuming she was going to. They were just barely talking. She stalked after a nearby butterfly as the boy was fishing. She couldn't fish as a cat anymore, so the boy would just have to instead. She pounced after the butterfly for awhile, then went back to the boy. She rubbed against him, purring, her cat instincts telling her to mark him as hers before she found a sunspot to curl up in.

Seth waited to feel the tug on his line as he watched the silly cat pounce after the butterfly for awhile. He thought it was adorable and missed catching his first fish out of amusement of watching her but soon found himself catching many fish to take back to the hut. After some time when she came up and rubbed herself against his body he couldn't help but get excited by the close contact with her. After she had sunned herself for awhile he thought he had caught enough fish and went to wake her from the warm sun, when he heard something in the woods near them and quickly had his sword by his side as he waited for the intruder to reveal themselves.

She looked up and flicked her cat ears when he got up. She watched him reach for his sword and moved closer to him, concerned. However, she was still tired, magically, and even though shapeshifting wasn't strictly a magical skill, it still took energy she didn't have right that second. All of the shapeshifters, even non-mages, could shapeshift. It took no magical energy, unlike actual magic. She heard the rustling in the woods and flicked her cat ears toward it, trying to figure out what it was. It sounded like a wolf. They were very sneaky in the woods, and that's what it sounded like was sneaking towards them.

Seth braced himself for whatever was getting closer and got in a defensive stance defending the kitten at cost was his only objective. He waited until finally a wolf exited the woods to the north of them. He began to charge at it to see what it's reaction was. If it fled he would do nothing if it stood it's ground he would cut off its head in one mighty blow. His mind was not thinking about it possibly being one of his own spies as he charged because he had had nothing but bad luck since the princess had came into his area of protection and he didn't think even now would possibly be any different. As he was charging at the wolf, the wolf changed form and shifted back into a young boy with grey hair. The boy looked thin, like an orphan. "Milord, news from the castle," he announced himself, unafraid of the charging dragon. He was sure the dragon would stop when he realized the boy was his spy.

"Alfred good to see you," Seth stopped his charge and returned to scoop up Kel into his arms and petted her. "What is the news, my friend?" He knew that it couldn't be good for either Kel or himself if Alfred was out here.

Alfred had been saved by Seth when he was just a baby when he came across the very hut he lived in now had been attacked by bandits. The parents had been killed by the bandits and were getting ready to take him away from the hut probably to be sold into slavery. Seth had defeated the bandits and took the baby wolf cub back to the castle and asked to be able to raise the puppy as his own pet. His father had agreed and Alfred was completely loyal to him and didn't even require a collar.

Kel eeped a bit at being scooped up into the prince's arms. She purred, though, when he started petting her. "Milord, your brother Cal has begun to lead the official hunting party to find the missing princess," Alfred reported. He promised to let Seth know if anything important happened in the castle. "Also your absence has been noticed by your father. You do not have a lot of time," he reminded the prince. Kel listened to the report from the prince's arms, more than a little worried.

"I understand, Alfred. I thought my leaving the castle a week in advance would clear the suspicions from me, but I guess not. I will return first thing in the morning to get orders from my father. You can stay with us and return with me in the morning or you can go back home now," with that he gathered his catch and carrying the princess in his other arm headed back towards the hut. As he was returning to the hut he let out a high pitched roar outside the hearing range of the dragons that would call the wolf-pack representative to the hut first thing in the morning.

Alfred shifted back into a puppy and headed back to the castle. His main job was a spy, so therefore he would get back to spying. He was very loyal to his prince. Wolves were loyal by nature, and the prince had saved him, so that was even better. Kel didn't complain about being carried by the boy. She did mew softly and flatten her cat ears when he called the wolf-pack, as her sensitive ears could pick up the sound too, though she didn't know what it meant. She did figure that everything was going badly now. She snuggled in his arms, assuming he'd explain later.

As he entered the cottage he felt anger beginning to boil at not only his father but his brother as well. Their impatience in their plan had obviously grown more than he calculated and extreme apprehension about their plan came to a forefront. He set the fish down near the wood stove and sat down at the table still holding the princess and petting her without saying a word. He was completely unaware at how lost in thought he was as he began to try and figure out how to adjust his plan to save the princess and her family.

The kitty looked up at the boy confused. She reached up cutely and batted his nose with a paw. She wanted to know what was going on, but didn't want to shift back yet, unless she had to. She liked being able to snuggle the boy, which she promptly returned to, purring, and hoping he'd explain. He had to have know that Cal would come after them. Cal was impatient. That's why she had gotten ripped from the sky and kidnapped instead of going though diplomacy to marry her instead.

Seth knew that Cal was impatient, but this impatience bothered him. Once she batted his nose he came out of his funk slightly and laughed a little as he continued to pet her. "I guess you would like to know what is going on wouldn't you Kitten? I'm just glad he hadn't collared you before the wedding. Then all of this would be for naught..." He paused again. "I was never told how you were brought in to us but it seems that my father had been upset with Cal initially over it but swore to make it work instead. So this seems that your escape has made them even more uneasy then I thought. I'll have to return to the castle tomorrow morning and get orders from father. Then I should be able to return. My allies will be here to guard you encase there are problems. If I don't return in 1 weeks time you're free from mine and anyone else's command. My only commands left are: If I don't return in that weeks' time you flee and rally your people against my kind before they kill your family. They must be stopped at all cost and you have complete autonomy over yourself and that the collar can never be broken by anyone but me and that no other collar can ever override it." He hoped that was a good enough command to prevent her from ever being collared again and allow her to leave the hut encase he couldn't return.

Kel shifted back, but was slower and not as strong about it this time. She found her own chair when she had, and listened to what he had to say, more than a little shocked. "Your father wouldn't let Cal collar me, except to block my magic," she explained to him. "Though even after that I managed to sneak from my cell and make it to a library, as you'd recall," that's how she met him was when she stumbled upon him while she was sneaking through the castle. For some strange reason he hadn't turned her in. "And I was out with my sisters when Cal grabbed me from the sky by my wings. Somehow, some way, Lissa and Lyn listened to me and fled, making it back to the castle and safety. I had seen the dragons coming and warned them to get inside so they couldn't be taken. . ." she'd stayed in harm's way to distract Cal and give her sisters more time to escape. "He snuck me into the castle trapped in a cargo box which was spelled against mages," she explained to him. "He and your father kept me locked in that cell while they tried to figure out what to do with me. They thought that collar had blocked all of my magic. . .but you saw that it hadn't..."

"That's terrible. I knew my father and my brother to an even worse extent were pure evil but this seems like brother has gone mad. It wouldn't surprise me if as soon as he marries you he turns on my father. Father had at least waited for grandpa to die before taking over. Regardless I think we should eat some of this fish and then you should get some sleep. I'll keep watch just in case and set out as soon as your bodyguards arrive." He watched her for some reaction on what she thought. "That is unless you have another plan." He didn't tell her that he would command them to follow her orders unless it was something that would make her less safe.

"It seems like the safest plan. If you don't return, your father will question you and draw more attention than is necessary," she finally told him on the plan. "Though you should get some sleep too. It won't do well to go before your father without any sleep," it almost sounded like she was willing to share the bed with him, provided he promised to behave. She blushed at that, and got up to work on the fishes. She was also thinking of the night that they first met, wondering if he had thought about it too. She wondered what had caused him to like her.

"Well I can't very well sleep in the bed because there is only one and chairs and walls aren't comfortable enough. I wouldn't want to make any assumptions my dear princess." He thought about how they had met and how he had set up the ability for her to escape the castle after he had spent time with her sneaking her books and the like. He had come to respect and then even like her because of her ability to try to stand up for herself no matter what the cause and her ability to try and make the best of a bad situation. His only regrets were not meeting her under better conditions.

She glanced over at the bed. "It's big enough," she said softly, "provided you promise to behave," she stuck her tongue out at him at the last part, reminding him that she wasn't entirely serious. She had met him when she snuck from her cell to the library, after having stolen a guard's magic to escape with. The dragons didn't acknowledge their magic, so as long as she hadn't used too much, she could steal theirs to do small things, like sneaking into the library. However, it had been fairly obvious that she didn't belong there, by being a felis-avian, and by being dressed in a fairly tattered dress, no shoes, and a heavy metal collar. Yet, he still hadn't turned her in that night. Instead he'd promised to bring her books.

Seth stared at her and smiled. "I promise to be good. I won't try anything though I really want to princess. If I do anything you do not approve of I command you to use your magic on me as you see fit." He then looked at her and smiled remembering what it was like when they had first met. "You remember that first night in the library. You were lucky then. I'm the only one that ever goes in there so I was able to help you search for books even helping you reach the books on high shelves since the magic in that collar prevented you from shifting. I sat with you for a couple hours as you read one of the books before I told you it would be safer for me to sneak you back to your cell and then just sneak books in for you. You had no idea but that night after seeing how pleasant you were and thinking you didn't deserve this fate that I started plotting this revolution against my kind."

She smiled. Felis liked snuggling, and it really wasn't fair to either of them to sleep in shifts, especially when the bed was big enough. She smiled, remembering that night fondly. "You showed me you were kind, and willing to break the rules for me. I was amazed you hadn't turned me in that night. I was also amazed you hadn't asked how I'd gotten out of that cell in the first place. . . I knew I wouldn't be able to escape the castle like that, but getting out for a couple hours to read something. You sat up with me until it got too late, and snuck me back past the guards" she hesitated at the next part. "Your father brought you down the next morning with Cal to show off Cal's capture to you," she had been amazed then that he hadn't mentioned or shown at all that they had met before. He wasn't particularly nice at that meeting, though. She finished cooking the fishes. Fishes were her favorites after all and set out dinner.

Seth generally didn't like fish but dragons could eat about anything. He stared at the well done fish before him and was amazed at how well she had made them look and smell. They appeared to be more like a steak then a fish. He smiled at her and noticed that hers was more what he considered normal fish fillets and smiled. "This looks great." he took a bite. "Oh that is excellent I usually don't like fish but this is really good." He then stared at her and watched her as she enjoyed her fish. "I'm sorry, I should of stood up to father and Cal that very next morning instead of treating you the way I did. Maybe there would of been some way I could of prevented all of this had I done it. I swear to you we will find a way to get you your claws back and I'll let you scratch out Cal's eyes when we are done."

She ate and enjoyed her fish, purring. They hadn't served fish in the dragon palace. The dragons don't usually enjoy it. She looked at him seriously. "You can't get my claws back. There's a reason it is the most severe punishment among the felis. They can't come back. It's like clipping an avian's wings, or taking a dragon's fire," A dragon's fire was the part of them that was warm and created real fire. "It's the worst punishment for a reason," she reminded him.

"You give up hope about things to easily. There is always a way to get things back. Although my kind doesn't use their magic usually I'm very strong in it because I studied it intently which is why i was usually the one in the library. I also have devoted time to science, which has many possibilities that even magic can't seem to cure. I'll find a way if it's the last thing I do. I promise you that." He then smiled as he finished his plate and took it over to a sink and began to wash it. "Would you like more hot chocolate before bed?" he asked her.

She smiled at him sleepily and took her plate to the sink to wash as well. He didn't know anything about magic, so she didn't bother fighting with him about the possibility of getting her claws back. It was a lost cause. "No, thank you. I think it's just time for bed," she yawned again, and went to go find something more bed-like to wear to bed, which conveniently enough was his tunic again. Oh well, he'd just have to live with it. She cleaned up before dressing for bed, and came back with her adorably-sexy outfit, blushing a little, knowing he'd notice how adorable/sexy it was. Again.

He stared at her cute display for just a moment before he blushed he turned around and pulled off his own shirt and pants revealing his underwear to her. He then turned around revealing his chiseled physique and smiled at her. "I hope this is okay this is what I normally sleep in. I hope it doesn't make you too uncomfortable." He then walked over towards the bed taking her hand and inviting her into bed as well.

She blushed, as being raised avian did not lead to seeing a lot of mostly naked men. "As long as you don't sleep in less than that," she could deal with it up to that point, but she was just sharing a comfy space with him. She wasn't going any further than that. Besides, the felis slept in giant kitten piles.  She joined him in the bed, for sleeping only. She left a little distance between them, but as she fell asleep, she instinctively snuggled into his arms, laying her head on his chest as a pillow. She was mostly asleep at that point, her cat ears drooped and very adorable.

He soon began to doze after she had laid her head on his chest. This made him smile contently as sleep came and took him. He soon began to dream and was fully asleep. It was a dream about his wedding night with the kitten after they had defeated his father and brother and had united all the clans. He was unaware as his hand found a way to her chest and gently began to caress her flesh completely unaware of what he was doing.

She eeped back awake, snarling as she scrambled out of the bed, away from him. He somehow ended up completely drenched in water, yet magically none of it got on the bed. It was a very impressive piece of magic, and dragons didn't like water or being wet. She was still snarling at him as he sputtered back awake.

Completely unaware of the situation he was startled awake by water being dumped on him. He didn't like water more than enough to take a bath or a quick shower. He struggled out of bed and rubbed his eyes and then looked at the princess. "Huh what's wrong? Are we under attack or something?" He had a confused, startled, and worried look on his face.

She snarled at him again. "You. Promised." she snarled at him. "You promised to behave yourself," she had trusted him. She should've known better than to trust a dragon. She found an extra blanket and huffed off to the chair by the fireplace, still steaming anger.

He continued to look at her confused. "What... What are you talking about." He waited a second before he continued. "I obviously did something wrong but have no clue what it is. You take the bed, I'll go sleep next to the door." He still had no clue what he had done but he wasn't about to let her sleep in the chair.

"You were groping me!" she snarled at him, growling and actually yelling. She, however, had to listen to him and take the bed again, since he was ordering her. Stupid collar. The bell jingled on it, as she'd forgotten to remove it when she shifted back into a person.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry I didn't mean to. Look I'm sorry. I can't seem to do anything bloody right with you even when I have noble intentions. God I'm so sorry. Look I'll accept whatever punishment you feel is appropriate."

She relaxed some, but was still not going to trust him to snuggle appropriately for awhile. She was however, too nice, and not really into the whole punishing thing, so she just sighed. "Let's just get some sleep," she told him exhaustedly. She pulled the covers back up, shivering now that she'd lost her heat source, and tried to get back to sleep.

The prince leaned against the wall and watched as she shivered. He felt really terrible and didn't know what to do. How could he have done something so foolish even in his sleep. As he continued to watch her try to sleep but couldn't because she was shivering he blew a small orb of fire over the bed that would put out warmth all night but was incapable of burning anything. He watched as he hoped she would fall asleep before he would figure out what to do to make it up to her.

She vaguely noticed the warm ball that came over to her to give her warm, however she was exhausted. She finally fell back asleep and stopped shivering. She wouldn't wake again until morning, when the bright yellow thing came out to annoy them.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Seth just laid his back against the wall unable to fall asleep the entire night and the lack of sleep could be seen in his eyes. He was worried because he had to go see his father today and being without sleep would make him easier to give away his hand to his father if he wasn't careful. He didn't know what to do. He had just fallen asleep minutes before the sun rose and woke his guest.

Kel rubbed her eyes when she woke and saw the prince dozing on the floor. Even after what he had done, she felt a bit bad for him. Especially since he had to go see his father this morning. She saw how exhausted he looked and she knew she had to do something about it. He couldn't go to his father in this state. She thought for a second, then went over to him as silently as she could. She used a bit of magic to give him some of her energy that she had replaced, to give him energy so he wasn't dead tired and could function like he'd gotten a full night's of sleep for a couple nights even. She wobbled, though, and mewed softly. She shouldn't have tried that kind of spell so soon. . .

Seth awoke to the princess standing before him her cleavage in full view as well as her milky white legs. He was distracted at first by her being so close to him but he soon noticed she was falling and he moved quickly to catch her and move her to the bed. "Hey Kitten what's wrong why are you so weak?" he asked her with true concern in his voice.

She smiled a little when he caught her and put her back to bed, glad that he cared about her. There was hope for him yet. "Y-you needed the energy more than I did. You have to face your father," she murmured at him tiredly. Her eyelids were fluttering and she was having trouble staying awake.

"No. Now I can't leave you in a weakened state. You'll just have to get some rest and I'll head home this afternoon. I can't risk you being defenseless even with a bodyguard here." He looked at her and watched her nodding off. "No arguments please. You shouldn't have done that, kitten. I didn't deserve to be treated so kindly after what I did last night." He thought she was asleep as he whispered that into the air.

She nodded ever so slightly and succumbed back to sleep. She was exhausted after what she'd done, but he really couldn't go back to his father with as little sleep as he'd gotten. He'd throw the whole operation in jeopardy. She barely heard what he had said, but her cat-ears were good enough to pick the words up anyway. She was too tired to do anything about it though, and snuggled back in the covers for sleep.

Soon after she had dozed Seth was greeted by a knock on the door. He opened it to reveal two wolf-clan representatives. "Come in but be quiet she is asleep and very tired. Do not wake her, unless she is in danger. You all are under her command unless she does something that you feel is a danger to herself. I have to go to my father, if I don't return in 6 days carry out our plan b." Seth then grabbed his armor and his sword and rushed off towards his kingdom.

The wolves agreed to his plan. They were young adults, a brother and sister. They set about tidying up the cabin and found something to do to entertain themselves while the princess slept. She was very exhausted indeed if she slept through Seth leaving. The wolves could tell the two cared for each other, even if they wouldn’t admit it to themselves.

Seth arrived at the castle to find Alfred stalling for time with the dragon king, buying time until Seth could get there. He really was a very loyal wolf-pup. Seth knew he would be able to hide his hand and find out what father and Cal were really after. He stormed into the castle and headed straight for the throne room. Cal had already been sent out to find the missing princess so this meeting was just between himself and his father. He knelt as soon as he had reached the proper distance from his Father. This was a formal meeting, so he had to play by the rules."Father, I came as soon as I heard the news."

The dragon king was expecting Seth back, and wasn't surprised when he came. Now would be the time to see what his son knew about the missing princess. He had seemed to take a fancy to the girl while she had been in the castle. "So you have heard, then, that Princess Mikelina has gone missing? I sent your brother and a hunting party to try to find her. It would not do for her to be harmed by bandits or some other horrible creature while she is in our care. Her family would not be pleased, and we are in negotiations with her father for a marriage contract." The dragon king liked to pretend that he was a kind ruler. Everyone knew otherwise, but no one would dare call him on it.

"That is terrible news, Father. I will set out to find her right away. Unless you object," Seth looked his father in the eyes and tried to get a reading on his thoughts from his body language. He was getting nothing giving away his father's thoughts and behaviors. His father was standing stoically as ever, watching Seth for his thoughts, just as Seth was watching for the king's.

The king finally nodded, getting nothing from Seth. "Of course, you should aid your brother. It would be a shame if something happened to the poor girl," he had been sure Seth had done something to help the girl escape. However, Seth was at least pretending innocence on this. He was always amused by Seth and Cal's sibling rivalry as well, and figured the situation in the girl would aid that. He did have to name an official heir, after all. Everyone assumed it would be Cal, but Seth did have potential as well. . .maybe it would do him well to further ignite their rivalry.

"I'll see you again soon father. I'll find the poor girl before Cal does, and then I'll take her as my bride, because I'll have proven I'm more worthy of her than he is." He then turned and stormed towards the exit of the castle. He wanted this kingdom for his own so he could stop the oppression of not only his kind but his new allies that was sure to come if Cal took over. His father was ruthless but he wasn't evil enough to fully suppress everyone at least Seth didn't think he was. The king wanted to pretend he was a kind ruler too much.

The king was amused by this latest development. He knew Seth had fancied the girl, but hadn't thought he would fight Cal over her. Maybe if he had tamed her some, proven himself, then the king would allow him to have the girl. Maybe.

"Alfred!" Seth roared as he waited for the young pup to show. "You're coming with me. This is too important to screw up now." He set out and moved with haste that the young wolf boy found hard to keep up with. At dusk Seth and Alfred finally arrived back at the cabin. The wolves reported when Seth and Alfred had arrived that Kel had slept most of the day, but they'd finally gotten her up to eat something. They thought she was still a little weak. Seth would mind more, except that it would probably help his new plan. The wolves had been waiting outside for Seth and took off into the woods as soon as he was safely back. They had paused to tousle Alfred's hair and show affection to the pup.

Kel looked up when Seth returned and even gave him a warm smile. He loved her smile and seeing her, he realized that he wanted nothing but to protect her and love her forever. "Hey, kitten, how are you doing? Feeling any better since this morning?" She got up from the chair by the hearth where she had been reading to greet him properly. She nodded, but still seemed tired.

"I'm ok," she told him, more concerned over his emotional state than her own physical state. She was still healing and weak and tired, but she would be ok. "How did the meeting go with your father?"

"It went ok, actually. He sent Cal off with a search party to find you, which he won't be able to do, because you are safely here. He also sent me out to help Cal find you. He's pretending it's for your own good. He also mentioned that he's working with your father for a marriage contract," he moved on quickly before she could dwell on that fact. "He's making wooing you a rivalry between myself and my brother, which we can use to our advantage. To that end, I have a new plan..." he trailed off, unsure how to explain it to her. He was sure she wouldn't like it.

"What's your new plan?" she asked him curiously, her cat-ears flicking and giving away her feelings again. She was trying not to focus on the fact that the king wanted to marry her off to Cal. She would not marry Cal, no matter what. Focusing on Seth's plan was better. There was at least hope there.

"You probably won't like it but it may just buy us enough time to secure our alliances and bring down both my father and Cal. Father is unhappy with Cal for allowing you to escape. He hasn't ever named an official heir, enjoying the rivalry between myself and Cal. I could win his support if I return you to the kingdom. If I do bring you back you'll be awarded to me by my father if we play it right. The bad thing is you will be expected to marry me. That I can't prevent but it buys us time and gives me bargaining power to save your family and maybe even put together the alliance officially stopping the wars from happening. If you agree to this I will not make you do a thing against your will unless it threatens both our safety at the time. If I do have to make you do something against your will you can do whatever you feel is necessary to make up for it behind closed doors." He laid out the plan with strong doubt that she would agree but he believed it to be the most sensible action they could take right now.

Kel thought about it for a long couple of minutes. If he took her back to the castle, she would be under his protection there, and wouldn't be stuck in a cell again. Her family would be safe, as they would be busy negotiating her marriage with the dragon king. She would be expected to be wearing a collar, as all the dragon women did, even if the collars did not force them to obey. She finally had to admit that he was right, and it was a good plan. Really it was the only plan. "It seems like the most sensible action. Are you sure it will work?" she asked him. That was an important part of this.

"If it doesn't work, I am as good as dead either way. Now at least, I - we- have a fighting chance. We can also be close enough to the political intrigue in the castle to know of any plots against your family. So I can protect them and not just you. You will be expected to obey me, follow along with this act, in public until I am King. I can't show any sign of weakness until then. Can you do that and do you understand why? Because I don't want you to force this on you but if you accept we have to play their game until I can fix things." He tried to wait patiently for her response. He knew she wouldn't like it. He knew it would be hard for her, but he also knew it was absolutely necessary.

He was right that she didn't like it, not entirely, but she finally nodded. "I know we have to play their game, and this does seem the best plan..." not to mention, she did like him. She wasn't sure yet, if it were to the point of love, perhaps if things had been better circumstances. . . "When are we leaving?" she knew that they wouldn't have long before Cal's hunting party would find them. He would have gotten as many dragons as he could to help find her. They couldn't afford to let Cal catch them before they got back to the castle.

"We rest up tonight. We head out in the morning. You may not like this suggestion but it may be our best chance of avoiding a fight. I have an act for us to follow, but it'll work. You'll be safe, I promise,"

She nodded. "The plan's fine," she told him softly. She was still tired both from her magic earlier, and from the fact that she was still healing and had a long way to go. Alfred looked over the girl he assumed to be Seth's new pet. He was a loyal puppy, but wouldn't hold anything against the girl who'd stumbled into Seth's life. Seth had seemed happier after meeting the girl, so that made Alfred happy. "There's enough leftover dinner for you and Alfred," Kel told the prince.

Seth moved towards the table and noticed that it was more of the fish he had caught yesterday. It smelled great and began to wonder if the girl was having an effect on his taste buds or if she was just better at making fish than others. "Thank you. Alfred, would you like a seat?" He asked the puppy trying not to be bossy anymore other than in front of his kind. He sat down and then looked at Kel, “Would you like to sit with me even though you've already eaten, kitten? I would love for you to tell me about one of your stories while I eat then we can take turns cleaning up and head to bed." He was being extra polite to her to show he was thankful for her agreeing to the plan. The puppy gladly took a seat and tucked into the food. Growing puppies needed lots of food after all.

Kel nodded and took a seat. She was a bit concerned as to why he was suddenly being all formal with her. Instead of telling a story from a book, she told him about her sisters, about her family. Her sisters were twins and ten years old. They were the most adorable beings in creation and she truly loved them with all of her soul. Her eyes lit up as she talked about them. She told him about how Evalissa was a proper young avian lady, and was learning diplomacy as her major course of study. Lissa did ballet and played the piano. Kiaralyn was a pure felis, and was learning swordsmanship. Their father didn't like that Lyn was learning such an unfeminine activity, but she was good at it, and the felis did not keep their daughters from learning to fight. He also grudgingly allowed Lissa to learn some self defense. She was a princess after all and might need to defend her honor. Kel's mother had died in childbirth to what would've been their younger brother. He hadn't made it either.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your mother. We will dedicate a memorial to her after we are married and I am king. I thank you for sharing about your family and about agreeing to this plan. I just hope you don't regret it later if we do have to marry." He flashed her a smile as he finished his plate and took the puppy's now empty plate and began to wash all the dishes.

She gave him a small, but sad smile. "It's okay, it was a long time ago." She was watching him carefully as he spoke of maybes. He had said he loved her earlier. She watched him now, trying to see the spark of that again, but realized that was unlikely in front of the puppy. She helped him clean the dishes, though. She realized quickly that they were out of bedspace for the extra person. "I've slept all day, so someone else can have the bed," she offered.

"Kel, Alfred will probably prefer to sleep by the fireplace he usually does even at home. I could take the bed but that wouldn't be very fair to you. I'll sleep in the chair tonight and you can have the bed. It's no big deal I'm still pretty fresh for some reason." He smiled at her and he looked away and blushed as he was sure she would of caught the sparkle in his eyes as he looked onto her lovingly. She smiled, relaxing and a bit reassured that he really cared for her. It was important after all. She yawned, and knew it wouldn't be long before he shooed her off to bed.

"If you're sure you're ok with the chair. . ." they finished getting everything cleaned up again. Alfred had already shifted to puppy form and was curled contently by the fireplace.

"If you don't trust me to sleep next to you, which after last night I don't blame you, I've become acquainted with sleeping in strange places. So it's no issue really. Why don't you go get changed and then I'll do the same and we will get some sleep so we can set out at dawn." She nodded and went to go get ready for bed. She was still tired enough that she fell asleep as soon as she was back in bed and under the covers.

Dawn came too early and she mewed awake, blearily waking. Seth was already awake. He had let her sleep as long as he had dared. Alfred was already dressed and ready too. "You should have woken me!" Kel exclaimed as she jumped out of bed. Seth smiled warmly at her.

"Morning Sunshine" he replied calmly, speaking in a sweet tone. He knew this might be the last moment of peace they would get for some time. "I would have woken you. I wanted to let you get as much sleep as you could before we head out." He got more serious then. "You sure you're ready for this? This is your last chance to back out." He didn't want her to back out. He loved her and this was the best way to keep her safe.

"I'm sure. It's what has to be done," she reminded him. She started to look for her clothes and noticed that Seth had set an outfit out for her. She cringed at it. He looked away.

"I'm sorry, but I thought it would be the best for this act. I want it to look like I just found you." She nodded, but her eyes had become blank. He wasn't sure then that he could do this to her. "Kitten? Kel? Are you ok?" he asked. He rushed over to her and wrapped her in his arms. "It'll be ok. It's just until we get to the castle, I promise." He held her safe in his arms while she wept. He didn't know what to do with a crying hysterical girl. "I promise, it'll be ok," he told her. "I'll keep you safe." He kept repeating reassurances until she cried herself out. "Are you sure you're ok with this? We can come up with another plan?" he didn't like seeing her hurting like this.

Kel finally nodded and stepped out of his arms, sniffling, but her emotions mostly under control. "It's the best way," she told him softly. She gathered the dress and went to the bathroom to change. She came back out looking almost as pathetic as he had found her. She was in the same dress she had been wearing when she had escaped. It was barely a dress, more of a slip, and was tattered and torn from her imprisonment and escape. She had also changed the collar she was wearing. It now looked like the thin necklace collars that most of the dragon women, and all of the dragon noblewomen wore. It looked like something Seth would give her if he was trying to prove he cared for her. It was perfect for his ruse. She hadn't missed any details. He didn't know how she had done it, as she herself had said her illusion abilities were poor, but she looked as thin, dirty, and injured as he had found her. He hoped she hadn't done anything stupid like undoing the healing. He couldn't help rushing over to her and wrapping her in his arms.

"I hate seeing you like this," he murmured into her hair. She sniffled and nodded, trying not to make noises of pain. She liked being wrapped in the safety of his warm arms. Dragons were always warm, after all. He led her over to the chair by the fire and sat her down. He started wrapping her injuries in bandages. He knew as he was bandaging her, that she had done some magic to undo all of the healing and good meals she had gotten since she had been with him. He never, ever, wanted to know how she had done it, and hoped that she would never have reason to use that particular spell again. He didn't ask her about it. He didn't want to hear the answer. He just swore to himself that he would take care of her and protect her from now on.

Once she was bandaged, he pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in his cloak. She seemed to relax once she was bundled in the cloth and much more covered. "Time to go," he announced. "Are you ready?" she nodded. He swept her up into his arms. He was protecting her. He wasn't going to let her walk while she was this injured, especially when it was mostly his fault she was in this state right now. She made an adorable protesting noise, but didn't struggle. He carried her to his horse, which Alfred had already saddled for him. He set her on the horse's back and mounted carefully behind her, cradling her in his arms. "Whatever I have to say to my father, remember, it's part of the act. I love you kitten, please remember that, whatever happens next." Kel nodded and cuddled herself into his arms, enjoying his warmth and safety. Alfred had shifted into wolf form. He ran alongside the wolf as Seth urged it forward, heading back to the dragon castle.

 


	10. Chapter 10

They rode straight to the dragon castle. Seth rode hard, cradling Kel so she wouldn't be jostled more than necessary. He wanted to get back to the castle before Cal and the hunting party found them. Cal would try to take Kel from him, and he couldn't allow that. So Seth rode as hard as he dared.

They did meet up with one of the hunting parties on their way. "Halt!" one of the guards yelled to them. Seth sighed.

"Why would they be concerned with people riding _towards_ the castle?" Seth whispered in Kel's ear. He did stop the horse, though, and waited for the guards to recognize him. "I am escorting Princess Mikelina safely to the castle." Seth informed them. "Fly ahead to tell Father to call off the search," he ordered them, his voice taking on the authoritative tone he usually had to use in court. The dragons took to the sky to follow Seth's orders. "Are you ok?" he asked Kel once they were gone. She nodded. Travelling as injured as she was was exhausting. "We'll be there soon. You can rest and heal once we're safely in the castle, I promise." He needed to get her to a real bed and real healing. He hated seeing her like this. "Please, try to remember that anything I say to Father is part of the ruse. I love you." She nodded again and curled herself more comfortably against him.

It was not long at all before they reached the castle. Seth sat up straighter in the saddle as the crossed the moat, on display now for any and all dragons who wished to see the prince return. Still, he held Kel, shielding her from the crowd as best he could. He would be unable to shield her once they had reached the king. Seth leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Will you pretend to be asleep? I'm going to tell Father you're in a drugged sleep. This will be easier if my father can't question you," he breathed the words in her ear, his voice barely audible. She would be able to hear him, though, cats had good hearing. She nodded and shifted a bit in his arms, to better portray the appearance that she was asleep.

Seth stopped at the steps into the palace. A couple of hostlers came up to his horse. Seth passed Kel down to his maid when she stepped up to help. He was amazed at how well Kel was pulling off pretending to be in a drugged sleep, which is the story he was going to sell to his father. Seth's maid was a dragon in her late thirties named Helene. As a dragon, she was perfectly strong enough to hold and carry Kel. The dragons were all well-built and strong, even the women. The avians were slimly built with thin bones so they could fly. The felis tended to be either thin and quick or giant fat fluffballs, and Kel wasn't a fluffball breed of cat. Helene would have no trouble with a frail teenage witch. Kel would probably seem like no more weight than a dragon pre-teen, if that.

Seth had rescued Helene a few years back and she was immensely faithful to him because of it. She was also the only one he would trust to hold Kel while he dismounted. He dismounted quickly and took Kel back from Helene with a curt nod to Helene. "Prepare space in my suite for the princess to rest until her suite can be completed." She curtsied.

"Yes, my lord," she headed off with the well trained briskness of the court servants.

Seth settled Kel more comfortably in his arms, vowing not to let her out of his sight until he was sure she would be safe. She was injured and starting to bleed through her bandages. He couldn't leave her defenseless when she was weakened like this. He walked straight to where his father was waiting in the throne room, and stood before him.

"I see you have brought the princess home," the king announced once Seth was standing before him. Seth bowed his head, unwilling to jostle Kel more than he had to.

"Yes, Father. I have done what Cal could not. I found the princess, lost in the woods, and brought her back to safety." Seth could play along with his father's claim that they were trying to help Kel. He was trying to help Kel after all. "I did have to give her a sleeping drought for the journey back. She was quite distraught. She was such an easy thing to convince. A few kind words and the foolish romantic thought I love her. As if dragons were capable of such emotions." Seth scoffed. "But I have claimed her with a proper dragon collar, just as any dragon nobleman would give to his lady." He carefully reached up and unbuttoned the cloak around Kel's neck, letting it fall to the ground so everyone gathered could see the collar around her neck.

"And you say you have her under control?" the king asked, looking over the sleeping girl. She had given them so much trouble when Cal had brought her home.

"Yes, Father. A few kind words and she was besotted. She is in love and will do whatever I ask of her. She may not be strong in body, but she is a powerful mage, and having a powerful mage on our side is a good thing. You said her father is willing to sign a marriage contract. Have him sign her over to me instead of Cal. It will build a stronger plan and we will have the avians and felis on our side without war." Seth suggested. He was trying to make it sound like he didn't love Kel, like his plan was purely diplomatic, like he was thinking of what was best for the kingdom. His father wouldn't understand feelings of love. Seth thought the king had cared for his queen, but cared for her in that he saw for her needs physically and cared that she was compliant enough to give him sons.

"I will consider your suggestion, Prince Seth," the king finally said. "I will have a suite of rooms set up for the girl. Maybe the suite next to yours so you can continue your charade," he thought for another moment. "To be fair, I do have to allow Cal the right to try to woo the girl as well. I doubt she'd fall for it with him... but I do have to allow him the chance. Maybe the marriage contract negotiations would go better if the avian king thinks she's in love and this isn't just a diplomatic wedding... Very well, continue your charade. Make sure she doesn't cause me any trouble, though, or I'll throw her back in the lowest pits of the dungeons until her father signs her over to us and we can bind her so tightly she'll never even think of leaving the dungeons again or remembering that she even has magic to use. Also, do not forget that the avian king is very insistent on the tradition that avian daughters are to remain pure until their wedding."

"Yes, father. I will take her to my suite to rest, under the chaperonage of my maid of course, until her suite can be completed." Seth gave the king another head bow before he swept from the room, Kel safely in his arms. They'd make sure she didn't cause any trouble for the king. He would convince his father to marry her to him and not his brother. He'd keep her safe. Even if she'd never love him in return, he would keep her safe and love her. He took Kel to his suite and kicked the door when he got there. Alfred opened it quickly, the pup must've been waiting right outside. Seth slipped in and let Alfred close the door behind him.

"We're safe now," Seth told Kel softly. She opened her eyes, no longer feigning sleep. "Are you ok to stand?" he asked her. She nodded. He didn't believe her and set her in a chair by the fire ever so carefully. "I'm sorry I had to say those things to my father. I swear I do care for you. I do love you, and I'm so very glad you're safe now,"

"You don't really think that of me, do you?" she asked him softly, sounding scared and lost. He scoffed.

"Of course not, but most of the dragons, like my father, have forgotten how to care or love, so I had to convince him other ways. I love you, kitten," he told her firmly. She seemed to relax at that, but he could tell she was still in a lot of pain. "I never ever want you to tell me how you did this to yourself," he gestured to her re-injured body, "I pray that you never ever get in this shape again, but it's time for you to get well and pampered,"

"You're going to fuss, aren't you?" she grumped at him. He just grinned at her, loving how adorable she was. He had taken her under his care. Dragons were protective creatures by nature, as well as stubborn. Not only was he supposed to protect her and keep her physically safe, but also see to her physical and emotional needs, even if the female herself thought she didn't need such attention. Many of the dragons had forgotten that was the old ways, but Seth had not.

"You're learning, kitten," he chuckled. "I've had to watch you suffer and could do nothing about it, but try to sneak you books. Please let me see you pampered and taken care of properly," he begged of her. She sighed, but was too exhausted and injured to fight him that she could take care of herself.

"Just for today," she told him tiredly. He smiled, letting the kitten keep her delusions that it would just be today that he'd fuss over her.

"Helene, are you here?" he called to the room at large. Helene entered from her bedroom. Kel finally got a good look at her. Helene was also taking account of the princess who Seth had fallen in love with. "I rescued Helene from a small village on the outskirts of the kingdom. Her parents were going to sell her because she refused to marry."

Helene scoffed. "Yeah, that's what happens when you're a lesbian," she commented, rolling her eyes. Kel nodded, though it had shocked Seth when he had found out. He didn't know lesbianism was a thing, but had felt the need to save Helene anyway. "I never found a dragon woman who would have me, but Seth has granted me a place of safety here,"

"We're all safe in my suites. My father can't observe us in here and no one within these walls will risk our safety," Seth explained to Kel. She nodded, glad there was somewhere they could be completely safe. "I'll have the same precautions placed on your suite once it's finished," he promised her. He turned to Helene. "Would you see that the princess gets a hot bath and clean clothes?" he asked her.

"Of course," she replied. She turned to Kel. "The bath is this way, princess." Kel went with Helene to the baths, not letting Helene carry her. She was perfectly capable of walking on her own. She did allow Helene to help her clean her wounds and scrub her back so she could be properly clean. She hated needing the help, but Helene wanted to help her. Seth liked the girl so she had therefore fallen under Helene's protection as well.

"I'm having a healer brought into the suite!" Seth called from the main room, not daring to come into the bathroom while the women were in there.

"Understood!" Helene called. "We will have to play along while there is a visitor in here, but nothing for you to worry about, dear," she told Kel, taking on a motherly role towards the princess. She had a nightgown set out for the princess and helped her into it once she was clean. "No need to dress all fancy to meet with the healer," she explained to the girl. Kel nodded and let Helene help her into the nightgown. She went back out to the main room where Seth and a female healer were waiting.

The healer looked at Kel in horror. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed. "My lady, please sit down. Let us begin the healing," she begged. Seth grabbed the wolf pup and chucked him out of the suite.

"I'll wait for you outside. Do your work well, healer," he spat at the girl, showing disdain Kel knew he did not feel. She knew he had to play the game, though.

"Yes, my lord," she replied. She and a couple of other healers Kel hadn't seen at first, got to work on Kel's wounds, with Helene to look on as Seth's proxy to make sure the work was done correctly. With three of the castle's best healer's working on her, it was no time at all before Kel was fully healed, except for her claws, which could never be healed. "She still needs more than a few good meals, and she will need rest. That was an extensive healing. If she weren't a mage herself, she would not still be conscious," the head healer explained to Helene. Kel was too out of it to take heed of their instructions for her healing.

"Thank you for your service, healer. I will tell the prince you have done well and see that the healers are rewarded," Helene told them. The healers scurried from the room, back to the safety of their own section of the castle.

Seth came back in a moment after they were gone. He rushed over to Kel the moment he laid eyes on her. "Kitten, why aren't you in bed?" he asked her. She looked barely conscious. She had gone through too much healing, she needed rest.

"Had to wait for you," she murmured. She had wanted to wait until she was sure he was safe too.

"The guest room has been prepared for her," Helene told Seth. He gave her a curt nod and lifted Kel into his arms.

"C'mon kitten, off to bed with you." He carried her to bed and tucked her in. She was asleep before he'd even entered the guest room. He smiled as he watched her sleep for a moment, glad she was safe and healed. He would do anything to keep her safe. He kissed her forehead. "Sleep well," he bid her. He left the room and turned to Alfred.

"I have a big job for you. Are you up to it?" he asked the pup. The boy yipped, even in human form and bounced.

"Of course I am!" He'd do anything for his beloved prince. Seth smiled.

"Can you shift to wolf for and stay in the princess' room? I want someone to guard her while she sleeps," the puppy yipped again. He shifted form and rushed into the room where Kel was sleeping. He would alert them if anyone came in uninvited. Seth turned to Helene. "Thank you for everything, Helene."

"You love her, don't you?" she asked him.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked. He needed to hide it in public. She smiled.

"Just to me, prince. Your father will never know," she went back to her duties, leaving Seth alone with his thoughts.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Kel woke to a puppy whining at her that she had to wake up because he had to pee. He couldn't guard her while she slept and go pee, so she had to wake up. Kel groaned as she sat up, confused about being in the strange room, and about the annoying puppy who was insisting she had to get up. She recognized the puppy as Alfred. "I'm awake," she told him. "Guard duty is over," he scrambled from the room and Kel couldn't help giggling at him. She slipped from bed and went rummaging through the dressers to find something better to wear than a nightgown. Someone had already gotten her some clothes. She found a pair of soft pajama pants and a halter top. It would be risque, except that avians often had backless tops, to accommodate their wings.

She padded out to the main room and found Seth and Helene laughing. "Hey, Kel. Did Alfred wake you?" Seth asked her. Kel giggled and nodded.

"Apparently he had to pee," she explained to them as she curled herself up in a comfy chair by the fire. Helene brought Kel a blanket to wrap around her. She had worked with avians and the felis before and knew they tended to always be cold. Kel smiled up at her. "Thank you,"

"How are you feeling?" Seth asked her. She smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm healed," she told him, hiding her fingertips in the blanket over her legs. She didn't want him to worry that her claws couldn't come back and her human fingertips were scarred and puckered and would never fully heal. "The healers did a good job." Kel could have done it herself, but she would have used way too much magical energy doing it. Letting someone else do the healing, she was still at full magic.

There was a knock on the door. Seth went to see who it was while Helene moved in front of Kel to protect her. Seth came back with a cart with plates of food on it. "I ordered food once Alfred came out," Seth explained as he started passing out plates. "Don't worry, there's no poultry," he told Kel as he passed her a plate. Kel gladly dug into her meal. She was still starving.

They all turned their attention to the door when it burst open. A teenage dragon girl rushed in and hugged Seth, nearly toppling him over. He laughed and swung her around. "When did you get back?" he asked her. Kel felt a pang of jealousy over the love and familiarity he was showing to this girl. Yet he claimed he wanted to marry Kel. Her hurt feelings were ignoring the fact that the girl was maybe 13 and therefore way too young for Seth.

"I just got home. Had to go say hi to dad before I could come see you. Who's that?" she asked, indicated Kel. Seth set the girl on her feet, keeping a familiar arm wrapped around her.

"Sorry, I'm being rude," Seth grinned down at the girl. “Di, this is Mikelina D'anglav, crown princess of the avian and felis countries. Hopefully soon to be my fiancee. Kel, this is my little sister, Diana." Diana slipped out of Seth's arms and went to hug Kel.

"Nice to meet you, Kel!" she exclaimed. "Seth, why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?" she demanded from her brother. Seth sighed.

"It's kinda happened under unusual circumstances," he explained. "Sit down, and I'll tell you." Serana took a plate of food and curled up on one of the couches. Seth told the story of Cal kidnapping Kel and everything that had happened since.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I would've helped you," Diana told Kel, who just nodded. "I was at a retreat being reeducated on how to be a proper dragon lady. Again." she grumbled.

"Third time this year. How'd you convince them this time?" Seth asked with a sigh. Diana shrugged.

"Same as every time. I pretend to be a properly cowed dragon maiden for a few days and they send me home. Besides, my birthday's coming up. Dad wanted me home. I think he wants to start betrothal talks." She rolled her eyes. Seth sobered at that.

"Careful. Dad can still ship you off to the Maidens if he thinks you won't comply," he warned her. "And even you're not powerful enough to combat the Collar."

She nodded.  "I know. I'll be careful," she promised. Kel believed her about as much as Seth and Helene did. She could tell from their expressions. "I promise, I'll be careful," she grumbled at them. She flounced out of the room grumbling when no one stepped up to believe her.

"She's a spitfire," Seth sighed. "I don't know how she's going to survive in father's regime. He gave her some allowances for her age, but now..." he trailed off. It was obvious she was getting too old to get away with that excuse for much longer.

"What are the Maidens?" Kel asked.

"Their the servants of the Mother Goddess. They are never allowed to marry and live in cloisters. They do not speak and barely interact with anyone outside of the sect," Helene explained. "It's no place for someone with as much fire and life as Princess Diana,"

Seth nodded. "We have to take over before she is subjected to that fate." He looked over at Kel. "But in the meantime, I promised you more pampering," he grinned at her. Kel groaned.

"I'm perfectly well pampered," she protested. Seth just chuckled.

"No you're not, kitten. Not nearly. You promised you'd let me pamper you today," he reminded her. She grumbled, but nodded. "You should get dressed. I think Helene put some dragon-style dresses in the closet in the guest room for you," Helene nodded and agreed that she had. Kel grumped at them, but went to find one of the dresses. It wasn't a formal dress, but was still gorgeous. It was also very risque by avian standards. It was full length, but sleeveless, with a low dipping back that accomodated her wings. It was a gorgeous emerald and there were soft indoor slippers to go with it. She dressed quickly and brushed out her hair so it curled down her back.

Seth's jaw dropped when she came back out to the main room. "You're gorgeous, Kitten," he told her as he came forward to kiss her hand. "Are you ready?" She nodded. He led her from the room, to amused looks from Helene, so he could pamper his princess.

 


End file.
